Wake Up
by Like A Dove
Summary: Katara finds that having two boys love you at the same time isn't all it's hyped up to be. Modern day. Jet/Katara/Zuko.
1. Cheesy Puffs and Lightsabers

It all starts with a blue lightsabor and a fairy Barbie.

Sokka has a summer cold, so he is stuck inside, leaving Katara to play in the front yard by herself. Gran-Gran is on the front porch, reading the newspaper and sipping iced tea.

Mom and Dad are off doing grown up things and Katara hopes they'd bring back some ice cream.

It really is hot outside.

She's been playing for nearly an hour when she starts hearing funny noises coming from Mr. Iroh's backyard.

Mr. Iroh has been their neighbor for years. Sometimes Katara will see him when he's out in his backyard working in his garden. It's a really nice garden, too.

But these noises don't sound like noises Mr. Iroh would make.

Interested, Katara glances over at her grandmother to see that the elderly woman has dozed off.

The six-year old smiles to herself and, clutching her Barbie to her chest, trots around her house and into Mr. Iroh's backyard.

She nearly falls over laughing.

A boy with sticky-uppy black hair thrusts his toy lightsabor out at invisible enemies. He's also adding his own sound effects.

Katara recognizes his toy from all the funny sci-fi movies that Sokka and Dad like to watch. She's seen bits and pieces of them here and there, but she openly prefers watching The Little Mermaid.

"Hi," she calls out. She's never seen this boy before and wonders if he's related to Mr. Iroh somehow.

The boy freezes, hand in midair, before slowly turning his head to look at her. Then he drops his toy so that he's holding it by his side and stands up straight. He's older then her, Katara realizes. But not by much.

"Hi." He sounds mistrustful.

Katara decides that perhaps it's not smart to hold out her Barbie in a play offering, so she smiles at him instead. "Wanna play?"

"With you?"

"Uh huh." Katara crosses her arms over her chest, not caring if she squishes her Barbie's fairy wings in the process.

The boy actually curls his lip at her. "You'll only want to play _girl _games."

Katara splutters indignantly. "Nuh uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nuh _uh!_"

"Yeah _huh!_"

"_NUH UH!_"

"_YEAH HUH!_"

Katara lets out a squeal of frustration, causing the boy to jump. "Never mind!" she exclaims. "I don't want to play anymore, you meanie!"

He smirks and shrugs one shoulder. "Your pigtails are stupid."

Katara's mouth falls open. She likes her pigtails, Mom had even braided them this morning. Thoroughly scandalized, Katara turns on her heel and marches away from Mr. Iroh's backyard.

This means war.

* * *

><p>The next day Katara spies the boy from her bedroom window. He's in Mr. Iroh's backyard again, kicking around a soccer ball.<p>

She lets her curtain fall across her window with a huff.

She leaves her bedroom and nearly sprints down the stairs and out the back door, not bothering to call out to her grandmother that she's going outside.

When the boy spots her coming into Mr. Iroh's backyard, he scowls. "What do _you _want?" he calls out, sounding wary.

Katara frowns down at her beat up blue Keds before forcing herself to look back up at the boy. "Kick me the ball," she commands, placing her hands on her hips. "And I'll kick it back."

The boy observes her for a moment and then he darts forward and kicks the soccer ball to her. Katara nearly stumbles when she tries to stop it with her feet—she's kind of small for a six year old and this ball is sort of big—but she manages to kick it back to him with something akin to speed. A rhythm starts. He swiftly kicks the ball to her and she awkwardly kicks it back.

At first the boy is tense, like he's sure that at any moment Katara is going to pick up the ball and throw it at him, just for laughs.

Katara never does, of course.

Eventually he relaxes and the two spend fifteen minutes kicking the ball back and forth in companionable silence.

Then the boy stops the ball with his foot and doesn't kick back. Katara looks at him, confused, before she sees something that surprises her. A smile. On the boy's face.

"I bet I can kick the ball over your shoulder." He stands still and waits for her answer. The wind catches his untidy black hair and makes it fly about his face.

Katara smirks. "Bet you can't," she challenges.

Challenge accepted, the boy backs up a couple of steps before rushing forward and kicking the ball into the air.

It misses her shoulder and hits her in the head.

Katara gasps and lets out a whine as tears sting her blue eyes. He vision blurs briefly and when it finally clears the boy is standing in front of her looking alarmed.

"I'm sorry!" he exclaims. "I didn't mean to, I just—"

"Did _too_," she snaps, furious. She shoves him, though she knows she's not supposed to hit or push people. "You nearly knocked my brains out!"

But this boy is _mean _and he deserves it. Who kicks balls at people's _heads? _Meanie.

The boy looks absolutely furious, but he doesn't shove her back. "You don't have any brains to knock out _anyway_."

Katara stamps a foot in rage and moves forward to shove him again. She expects him to push back. Sokka _always _pushes back.

Instead he side steps her and Katara trips over her own feet.

She lands in grass. Pouting and somewhat humiliated, she moves to stand up but there's a stinging sensation in her right knee. That's when she notices the blood.

Katara can usually handle blood well, but when her own blood starts to stream down her leg in rivulets she feels queasy.

The boy is already sprinting towards Mr. Iroh's house. "UNCLE!" he shouts. "_UNCLE!_"

* * *

><p>Katara has to get six stitches.<p>

She had fallen on glass.

* * *

><p>Sokka starts calling her 'Penguin'. Since the stitches stretch over her knee, she can't bend it. So her walking is more like waddling.<p>

"Pass the Cheetos, Penguin." Sokka is sitting on the floor, is back against the couch.

Katara is sitting on the couch with her leg prompted up on the ottoman. She frowns and looks down at the bag of cheese puffs in her lap. "No."

"You _have _to share, Penguin."

"No, I don't—"

The doorbell rings.

Sokka stands up to answer it, but Mom beats him to it.

"Oh, hello Mr. Iroh, it's so nice to see you. And this must be your nephew, Zuko. Hi, Zuko."

Mr. Iroh greets mom cheerily from outside the front door. Then there's grumbling. Katara thinks that that must be Zuko.

Mom steps aside and Mr. Iroh and Zuko enter the house. Zuko looks at Katara's leg, then Katara. He frowns. Mr. Iroh clears his throat from behind him. His nephew sighs.

Zuko walks right up to Katara and sticks his hands in the pockets of his shorts. "I'm sorry that I kicked you in the head with a soccer ball. And that you fell on glass." He's staring at the carpet. "Sorry about your stitches, too. Hope you're feeling better." Then he quickly moves to stand behind Mr. Iroh.

Katara blinks, stunned. It isn't until she notices Mom's glare that she remembers she's supposed to say something in return. "Uh, it's okay." Mom's eyes narrow even further, so Katara sits up straight. "I accept your apology."

Mr. Iroh smiles kindly at her, but Zuko refuses to meet her gaze.

"Mr. Iroh," Mom says, gesturing toward the kitchen, "it's been awhile since we've had a chat. Would you like some tea?"

"Now, Kaya, you know that I can never refuse a cup of tea. And where is that lovely mother-in-law of yours?"

Mom laughs and the two adults walk into the kitchen, leaving Katara and Sokka alone with Zuko.

Katara is frozen to her seat, not at all sure what to do. The boy who kicked a soccer ball at her head is _in her living room._

She expects Sokka to say something snide, since this _is _the boy who caused her stitches, after all. But of course he doesn't. Instead he grabs a video game box lying on the floor.

"You wanna play Donkey Kong?" Sokka holds up a Nintendo controller enticingly.

Zuko's expression lightens and he quickly nods. Minutes later the two boys are on the floor, laughing and talking as they play with the game.

Katara stuffs her hand back in the bag of Cheetos, and when Sokka asks for the cheese puffs again she chucks the whole bag at his head.

* * *

><p>Mr. Iroh ends up going back to his house next door, but Zuko stays for dinner.<p>

Katara wobbles to her chair at the kitchen table, where Zuko and Sokka are chatting excitedly about gross, stupid _boy _things. She sits down and pouts.

Macaroni and cheese is served. It's Katara's favorite meal, but she doesn't enjoy as much as she usually does.

Sokka and Zuko eat happily, and Katara wonders if this is the start of a new friendship. She glares at her plate. Her brother has _betrayed _her.

After dinner, Katara grabs her Lion King stuffed animals, puts her copy of The Lion King into the family's VCR, and proceeds to reenact the movie with her toys as it plays out onscreen. It manages to make her forget that the mean, evil boy next door is _spending the night_ and that he and her brother are currently upstairs in her brother's room comparing their Star Wars action figures.

* * *

><p>The summer comes to an end. Sokka and Zuko have become best friends.<p>

Zuko technically lives on the other side of town in some big, fancy house with his parents and little sister. Once Sokka suggests that his sister should come over so that Katara will have someone to play with. Both Zuko and Katara are appalled by this idea.

Zuko also doesn't go to the local elementary school either. He goes to some private school where everyone has to wear a uniform.

But Zuko always, without fail, spends his weekends with his uncle. This makes weekends the worst part of Katara's week.

All the fun weekend activities that Katara used to look forward to, like going to the movies or going out for pizza, are now tainted by Zuko's presence.

Of course, Sokka loves having his best friend around all the time, and Mom, Dad, and Gran-Gran all think that Zuko is a "sweet boy". So they don't mind having him around.

Katara is the only one that knows the truth. That Zuko is a meanie who _kicks balls at people's heads._

In October, when Katara and Sokka are trying on their Halloween costumes for Gran-Gran, Sokka tells Katara that she needs to get over her grudge towards Zuko. She chases him with scissors as a form of punishment, until Mom catches her. Then Katara is grounded for one week with no TV.

Katara spends the rest of the evening sniffling and clutching her stuffed Simba.

Mr. Iroh's nephew has _ruined her life._

* * *

><p>It's Halloween. Katara is supposed to go trick-or-treating with Sokka and Zuko in a couple of hours. She's dreading it.<p>

It doesn't matter that she's going as a magical princess. What's the point of walking around in a fun costume and getting free candy if _he _was going to be there?

She's sitting on a swing, frowning down at the mulch, when someone takes the swing next to her. Katara lifts her head to say hello to the other person, because Katara really is very polite, when she sees a girl dressed entirely in green.

"Hi," the girl says cheerfully. "I'm Suki."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

**Okay. So. I've always wanted to do a full-length modern day story, and I've always wanted to do a Zuko/Katara/Jet story. So I've decided to combine the two ideas and now we have this fic.**

**Ta-da!**

**Don't ask me who Katara is going to end up with, 'cause I won't tell you. *maniacal laughter***

**Anyway, please review! :D**


	2. Halloween Candy and Birthday Cake

Katara didn't know that you could instantly become best friends with someone. But that's how it was with Suki. They immediately bonded over Disney, cookies, and a mutual hatred for boys.

Right there on the swing set, Katara invites Suki to go trick or treating with her, her brother, and evil Zuko.

This Halloween could potentially be _awesome_.

Suki wants to, Katara can tell.

"I don't know," the other girl says, shrugging her shoulders. "I've never gone trick or treating before."

Katara is so horrified by this that it takes her a moment to find her voice. "Why not?"

"My mom doesn't let me. She's scared I might run into devil worshippers and that I'll eat too much candy and get sick." Suki pauses. "But mostly the devil worshippers."

"You can _never _eat too much candy," Katara reassures her new best friend. "And the devil worshippers don't come out until midnight and they stay away from our neighborhood because they don't like to eat little kids. That's what my brother Sokka says."

"I don't know. My mom is kind of strict…" Suki trails off.

The girls exchange phone numbers anyway, both vowing to call as soon as they get home from school.

* * *

><p>Katara calls first. Suki answers the phone, and both girls talk and giggle over silly things until they both put their mothers on the phone in hopes that Suki can come over for Halloween.<p>

She can't, but Mom says that a play date has been set up for the two of them next weekend.

This is _wonderful _news. Except now Katara is stuck with her brother and Zuko for Halloween.

* * *

><p>Wearing her magical princess costume is making Katara feel a little bit better. Her costume has sparkly wings, and Mom has let her put on a little bit of lipstick.<p>

She and Sokka now stand by the front door, waiting for Mr. Iroh to bring over Zuko. It's almost dark outside.

Sokka is dressed as Obi Wan Kenobi, padawan style. He has the braid and everything. Katara has already told him that he looks stupid. Twice.

There's a knock on the door and seconds later Sokka is opening it, revealing Mr. Iroh and his nephew. Zuko is dressed as Han Solo. He quickly hands Sokka his toy lightsaber. Sokka presses the button and watches it light up with awe.

"You can't be Obi Wan without a lightsaber," Zuko says. He and Sokka grin, both ridiculously excited.

Katara stands there with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at them.

Mom and Dad come out of the living room and greet Mr. Iroh and Zuko before beginning to lay down the ground rules.

Don't ring the doorbell of a house that doesn't have any lights on. Don't get in a car with _anyone_. Don't accept candy that's been taken out of its packaging, or anything homemade, aside from popcorn. Don't stay out past nine. No exceptions. Be careful.

Then each kid is handed a pillow case and sent out the door into the bustling neighborhood.

* * *

><p>Katara has a great haul.<p>

She swings her pillow case full of candy over her shoulder and moves into a light jog in order to keep up with her brother and Zuko. They're slowly moving in a circle around the neighborhood, and so far Katara feels as if her costume is a hit. She's been called 'adorable' so many times that she's lost count.

They're walking towards the end of a street. Zuko and Sokka are moving in front of her in some kind of stupid mock battle thing where Sokka swings around his lightsaber and Zuko shoots his blaster.

Katara just rolls her eyes.

That's when she notices it.

Up ahead someone has turned their entire garage into a haunted house. When Sokka and Zuko notice it they start jumping up and down and both boys break out into a run.

Katara warily follows.

Katara doesn't like scary things. When she was really little she would always hide behind the couch whenever the evil queen turned into the hag in _Snow White_, or whenever Dr. Jekyll turned into Mr. Hyde in _The Pagemaster_. Sokka always relentlessly teased her for it.

She still balks at people dressed up in full body character costumes at parades or at the local theme park. They're just terrifying.

They move into the driveway that hosts the haunted garage. There's some lady dressed as a witch beckoning trick or treaters inside.

"Sokka," Katara calls out nervously.

Her brother turns around and raises an eyebrow at her. "Come _on_, Katara. Don't be a scardy cat."

Katara _definitely _doesn't want to be one of those. But at the same time, there's mist coming out of the garage, and scary noises!

She'd rather stay outside.

"Come _on_, Katara," Sokka calls out. "There's gonna be a whole basket of candy in there!"

Katara isn't even remotely tempted. She has a whole pillow case of candy right here. She shakes her head at her brother.

"Fine," her brother snaps. "Stay out here, then. Scardy cat."

Both boys wander into the garage. Katara glances around. There really aren't many kids around, since this is the end of a street, so right now she's left alone with the creepy witch lady.

Then Katara has a thought. What if there are devil worshippers around?

Katara has two choices. She could either follow her brother and his friend into the haunted garage, where at least there will be safety in numbers even if it _is _dark.

Or she could stay out here and get eaten by the creepy witch lady and some devil worshipper.

Katara chooses the garage.

* * *

><p>It's not <em>so <em>bad.

Katara really can't see all that well because of the fog, and there are creepy noises _and _it's dark, but she's doing okay. She weaves through the haunted décor set up in the garage, growing closer and closer to the exit.

That's when she sees the basket of candy. Its decent candy too, full bars and bags, not just fun sizes!

She makes a dash for a bag of Skittles.

That's when the devil worshipper pops out.

If Katara had stopped and studied the man she would have realized that it was just a teenager dressed up like a demon.

But Katara is six-and-three-fours, and is prone to terror.

The devil worshipper starts to move forward, so Katara reverts to her only defense mechanism: she bursts into tears and runs screaming toward the exit. Sokka and Zuko stare at her when she finally comes back out on the driveway.

"What happened?" Sokka asks sternly. By the look on his face he's clearly starting to shift into Big Brother Mode.

"The devil worshipper…tried to…eat me!" Katara hiccups through her tears.

The creepy witch lady has gone into the garage and has pulled out the demon dressed teenager. She gestures to Katara and then pats his shoulder. He turns and begins to move toward her, pulling off his demon mask.

Katara panics.

Sokka, in all his just-turned-eight year old glory, steps in front of his sister and proceeds to bark at the teenager on why it's not very nice to scare little girls.

Katara watches in awe.

Then there's a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looks over and sees Zuko.

"Come on," he says, jerking his head toward the street. "Let's go back to your house and eat some candy." He gives her a tiny smile.

Katara decides that perhaps Zuko isn't evil. A meanie, yes, but not evil.

* * *

><p>Sokka and Zuko are playing video games in the living room when Suki comes over the next weekend.<p>

Katara lets her in, and both girls smile and giggle together as Katara shows her upstairs to her bedroom.

Zuko doesn't bother to glance away from the television screen, but Sokka watches Suki out of the corner of his eye.

* * *

><p>Katara's seventh birthday is in February, and the day of her party is a glorious event.<p>

She's currently sitting at the head of the table, her candle lit birthday cake in front of her, with all of her friends surrounding her.

She feels like a princess.

In fact, that's how the cake is decorated. It has white frosting and it says "Happy Birthday Princess Katara" in pink letters. It tastes good, too. Katara knows because she's already subtlety swiped her finger along the corner of the cake and eaten some of it.

Suki is on her right and Ty Lee is on her left. Katara became friends with Ty Lee through Suki, since Suki and Ty Lee take gymnastics together.

"Let's blow out your candles!" Ty Lee suggests, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Wait!" Mom calls out, and everyone in the room goes quiet. Mom holds up her camera. "I want a picture of Katara with her cake."

Katara pouts at this, causing Dad to laugh.

Mom spends the next two minutes taking Katara's picture. In some shots it's just Katara, in some of the other's Mom has made her friends gather around her.

"Say cheese!"

"Cheeeeeeeese!" all the girls say, smiling wide. Finally Mom puts away her camera.

Then everyone bursts into a chorus of "Happy Birthday". After Katara blows out her candles and makes her wish (she wishes that she could be a mermaid), everyone is served a slice.

Katara finds herself grinning. It's good to be seven.

* * *

><p>Zuko is turning an interesting shade of red.<p>

"What's this?" Katara asks, inspecting the hastily wrapped gift in her hands.

"My mom made me get you a present," Zuko grumbles.

Katara's birthday party is pretty much over; only Suki and Ty Lee remain, and they're spending the night. Since it's the weekend, that means Zuko is over as well.

Katara has already opened all of her presents. She pretty much got everything she asked for; with the exception of the lumpy hat that Gran-Gran knitted her. Katara has no idea what she's supposed to do with that.

"Er, thanks." She holds the gift to her chest and frowns down at the floor. She _has _come to the conclusion that Zuko is not, in fact, evil. But he still _kicked her in the head with a soccer ball._

Plus she's pretty sure that he has cooties.

"Yeah. Okay. Happy Birthday." Zuko turns to walk back into the living room where Sokka is.

"Wait," Katara calls out. "Aren't you going to watch me open it? Everyone is supposed to watch the birthday girl open her presents."

Zuko rolls his eyes. "No."

"Why not?"

The older boy shoots her a funny look before muttering something under his breath and then disappearing into the living room.

With a _humf_, Katara prances up the stairs and proceeds to shove Zuko's gift underneath her bed without bothering to open it.

* * *

><p>Mom's car gets hit by a semi in May, a week before the start of summer vacation.<p>

They have to keep her casket closed at the funeral.

* * *

><p>Katara has never particularly liked to wear black, most especially not on a day like today.<p>

Katara barely remembers the funeral, even though it was just hours ago. She knows she cried, though. She knows that Sokka held her hand the whole time.

Right now she's back at home, but she can't bring herself to go into the house. It feels empty without Mom.

She does know Dad, Gran-Gran and Mr. Iroh are in the kitchen, and Zuko is over. He and Mr. Iroh brought over food.

Suddenly the front door opens behind her. Katara glances over her shoulder and isn't surprised to see Zuko standing there.

She is surprised when he doesn't leave once he spots that she's by herself.

"Do you want to be alone?" he asks softly.

She thinks on this for a moment before shaking her head. He sits down next to her on the front steps. There's about three feet of space between them, but at least he's there.

They watch the sun set and listen to the thrum of the cicadas.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

**Yeah, not so much of a happy ending for this chapter, but Kaya dying is a really important canon event that significantly helps shape Katara's character. It's one of those events that's kind of unavoidable.**

**Thank you for all the reviews and encouragement on the last chapter! You guys are just downright awesome. :D**

**Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter as well, and make sure to review and leave me your thoughts!**


	3. Ms Fuzzy Breeches

Katara is eight and in third grade when it happens for the first time.

She's sitting in class exchanging drawings of unicorns and mermaids with Ty Lee, both girls occasionally mentioning how they wish Suki was there. Their other friend goes to an all girl's Catholic school on the other side of town.

Ms. Brown, Katara's teacher, stands up and begins to hand back their math tests that they took last week. Katara crosses her fingers over the top of her desk and squirms impatiently for her results.

When Ms. Brown reaches her she gives her a small smile and hands Katara her test.

Katara stares at the corner of the paper in utter shock.

There is no sticker. There is no smiley face.

She's gotten a 77%. Katara has never gotten less than an 85% on _anything._

She quickly stuffs the test into her folder and looks at the chalkboard for the remainder of the day.

* * *

><p>Sokka about tackles her when he sees her on the bus.<p>

"Katara! _KATARA!"_

"What?" she snaps, still not in a good mood.

Sokka is grinning, completely oblivious to her frown. "My teacher pulled me outside of class today." He grabs her hand and drags her towards the section of the bus where Sokka and the rest of the fourth graders sit. "Guess what she told me?"

Katara shrugs, placing her pink _Hunchback of Notre Dame_ backpack on her lap. "I don't know."

"He thinks that I'm super smart. He wants to bump me up to the fifth grade!" Sokka is drumming his hands on the bus seat in front of them in excitement.

Katara nearly bursts into tears. She always knew that Sokka was smarter than her since he was older, but she figured she's catch up to him intellectually soon enough.

But if he's going to be one of those smarty-pants who skips a grade…

She bows her head and sniffs. Sokka is too happy to notice.

* * *

><p>The next week Katara gets a 100% on the book report she did on <em>The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. <em>She performs better than everyone else in her class, but for some reason it still doesn't seem good enough.

* * *

><p>Katara has a routine down for her Friday nights. Sometimes she has friends over, but for the weekends when she doesn't, like this weekend, she normally curls up on the couch and reads before watching television.<p>

First she watches _Sabrina the Teenage Witch_. Then, when that's over, Sokka and Zuko walk in with snacks and they all watch _Boy Meets World _together.

"Pass the Twizzlers, fart breath," Zuko says from the bean bag chair on the floor. Since he's turned ten he's started calling her names in a really annoying, brotherly way.

Grumbling, Katara grabs the candy and throws it at his head. He catches it with ease. "Thanks, butthead."

Katara clenches her fists. "Yeah, well, you're ugly!"

Sokka snorts and Zuko grins at her.

Comebacks are not Katara's strength.

* * *

><p>Summer is approaching. Mom has been gone for nearly a year.<p>

To distract everyone from this fact, Dad announces that he's putting an inground pool in the backyard. Both Katara and Sokka freak out, throwing their arms around Hakoda before running around the kitchen shrieking in delight. Gran-Gran sits at the table and smiles at them.

It doesn't take too long for the pool to be put in, not when Dad has all the workers working overtime for it.

When it's finished Katara decides that it's the most beautiful thing in the world. The water almost seems to glow it's so clear and blue. Plus Dad put in a deep end _and _a diving board.

This summer is going to be fun.

Zuko is over for their first night swimming in it.

He and Sokka are jumping off the diving board while Katara swims around the shallow end, pretending she's some aquatic princess and making up stories in her head. Sometimes she pretends that there's a shark in the deep end and goes about hiding from it.

Then everyone decides to go inside for something to drink and a quick snack.

"Katara," Hakoda says from the side of the pool. "Don't swim into the deep end. We'll be back in a second." He starts to make his way inside the house before pausing and looking over his shoulder. "I _mean it_, Katara."

She nods, waves at her Dad and then goes back to her playing.

As soon as the door closes behind him she makes a beeline for the deep end.

Katara isn't a _bad _swimmer. She's just not a particularly _good _swimmer. Yet.

She grips the edges of the pool and makes her way into the deep end. She smiles smugly to herself. As long as she holds onto the edge she'll be fine. Adults worry too much.

She makes one trip around the deep end before deciding that she could probably handle swimming across. It's not all that far, and if she shoves herself off of this side using her feet and legs, she bets she'll make it to the other side off momentum alone.

It's too easy. Katara is _so_ smart.

She ducks underwater, still keeping one hand on the edge, and pushes off the side of the pool with her feet. She cuts through the water, smoothly making it to the other side.

She pops up, smiling and wiping her wet brown hair away from her forehead and eyes.

She goes to do it again, but this time her hand slips away from the edge and she starts to go under. It happens so fast that Katara doesn't even have time to panic. She thrashes about in the water for a few seconds, head bobbing and occasionally breaking the surface, but her kicking limbs aren't enough and she sinks.

Her eyes are open and all she sees is the color blue and the sun.

Someone grabs her from under her arm and yanks her out of the water. Her back scrapes against the edge and she's sure she'll have scratches.

"How stupid can you _get?_" someone is snarling at her. She blinks her eyes rapidly and when her vision comes into focus she sees Zuko glaring down at her.

"Didn't your dad tell you _not _to swim in the deep end?" He looms above her, without a shirt and wearing black swim trunks.

"Shut up!" Katara snaps, half hysterical and on the verge of tears.

Zuko's eyes narrow a bit and he opens his mouth to say something when he's cut off.

"Katara, just what are you doing by the deep end?" Hakoda's tone is murderous. Katara looks up to see her Dad and brother staring at her from the other side of the pool. She probably looks ridiculous, with her soaking wet hair and deer-in-the-headlights expression.

"She's just putting her feet in the deep end, sir," Zuko lies casually. "I would've seen her if she was actually swimming in it." Then he plops down next to her and sticks his feet into the water.

Katara forces a smile and the look on Hakoda's face softens slightly. He sits down in one of their lawn chairs and frowns at her. "Be careful."

She nods quickly and folds her hands in her lap, attempting to be the picture of innocence.

She glances at Zuko to find him staring into the water with a pensive expression on his face. His black hair is damp and it sticks up at the back of his head.

That's when Katara notices that he's actually sort of cute. Well, for a boy with cooties.

* * *

><p>It's a Sunday evening. Dad and Sokka are out seeing some silly looking action flick that Katara deemed uninteresting. She's currently sitting at the kitchen table and frowning down at a summer reading book. Gran-Gran is upstairs taking a nap.<p>

Then someone is banging on the front door.

Katara gets up and quickly glances out the window, wary to open up the door to anyone who she doesn't know.

It's Zuko.

She rolls her eyes, marches over to the door and yanks it open. "Sokka isn't here," she says, putting her hands on her hips.

Zuko doesn't respond. That's when she notices that he looks like he's about to cry.

As much as this boy can get on her nerves, Katara can't help but feel alarmed. She's always been one to be moved by tears and this is _Zuko _for crying out loud. She's _never _seen him cry.

"Oh. Okay." He takes a step back into the rain and clutches something to his chest.

That's when Katara starts to really feel sorry for him.

She opens up the door. "You can come inside and wait for him if you want," she says quietly.

Zuko nods, and then walks into the house.

She makes her way upstairs and into her room and is surprised when he follows her.

"Er." She glances at him awkwardly, knowing that her bedroom isn't exactly boy friendly. There's pink and Barbies everywhere.

"Sorry," he mumbles. He moves and sits down at the edge of her bed and stares down at the carpet. Katara reasons the perhaps he doesn't want to be alone.

She goes to her closet, rummages around and pulls out her secret stash of Oreos. She's not sure how to cheer up boys, but cookies always make her happy.

"Don't tell my brother about these," she instructs, placing the package of cookies next to him on her bed.

He nods slowly but doesn't reach for any.

Katara sits on the ground and fumbles with a couple of her toys. That's when Zuko lets what is in his hand drop to the floor. Katara's eyes about pop out of her head when she sees it.

It's a brand new handheld gaming console, the one she had seen all the commercials for. Sokka had been begging Dad to get him one for weeks.

"When did you get _that?_" Katara asks. She moves to pick it up but then hesitates. It looks so shiny and pristine that she's scared she'll break it if she even touches it.

"My dad took me to the store and bought it for me today out of the blue." Zuko doesn't look up from the carpet. "Then he told me that my mom left."

Katara stills from where she's sitting on the floor. She knows all about mothers leaving.

"She's not coming back," Zuko whispers. He's not crying, but Katara can tell that he wants to. He bites his lip and ducks his head.

She taps her finger against her knee, thinking about how best to respond. "Well, I understand—"

"No, you don't," he cuts her off. Suddenly he's furious. "You have no idea, Katara."

She knows this is bad. He's not calling her any names.

"Your mom is _dead_." Zuko's voice is so harsh that Katara flinches. "But at least she didn't leave you on purpose."

Then he's standing up and storming out of her room. When Sokka and Dad come home fifteen minutes later she can't find the words to explain to them why she's crying.

* * *

><p>Less than a week later Katara and Sokka find it.<p>

It being a cat.

They're walking home together from the bus stop when the orange tabby trots right out in front of them. Katara immediately scoops it up. It's a kneejerk reaction.

She and Sokka instantly start arguing over names.

"We're calling it Gandalf."

"No," Katara snaps, stroking the top of the cat's head. "That sounds stupid."

Sokka looks offended. "How about Mr. Fuzzy Breeches?"

"That's stupider than the first one!"

"Nuh-uh! We could call it Fuzzy!"

The cat in Katara's arms starts to purr so loudly that Sokka grins. "See? It's purring so it must like the name."

Katara scowls.

When they reach the house Dad takes one look at them and rolls his eyes and refuses to let the cat inside.

"But lookie at how cute he is!" Sokka begs, his eyes going wide.

"_She _is," Katara corrects.

"You don't know for sure!"

"I bet I do—"

"No you don't!"

It's Gran-Gran who pulls the cat out of Katara's arms and confirms that it's a lady cat. Katara sticks her tongue out at her brother and takes the cat back.

It's also Gran-Gran who convinces Dad that they should keep the cat. When Katara looks back down at _Ms. _Fuzzy Breeches, she smiles.

That's how they discovered a new member of the family.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

So yeah, this chapter is short and sort of bounces all over the place. Admittedly, I'm trying to speed through their childhood since Jet doesn't get to come in until their teenage years, plus when they're older it'll be vastly more exciting for obvious reasons ;)

Sorry for not replying to the reviews from last chapter! I'll try to be good about getting back to you guys for this chapter, promise! One thing I would like to mention is that I had a lot of people ask me what Zuko gave Katara for her birthday. Answer is you guys have got a little while to find out. *is evil*

Anyway, thank you all for reading despite the delay in this update and leave me your thoughts pretty please! :D


	4. Third Degree

She's eleven years old and school starts in a little less than a week.

Katara is excited for school to begin, and therefore is _thrilled _to go shopping for new school supplies.

It's Sokka who follows her around Office Depot, whining.

Katara grabs a couple of Lisa Frank folders and gel pens, quietly listening to Sokka go on and on about how much sixth grade stunk and how awful seventh grade is sure to be. He says it's because none of the other kids in his grade are as _cool _as he is, but Katara suspects that it's because he gets picked on a bit. He's a whole year younger than everyone else in his class, after all.

Grumbling, Sokka grabs some boring looking notebooks and tosses them into the shopping cart. Katara huffs. In her opinion, you might as well go to school in style. Her brother doesn't seem to understand this concept.

"You're going to have fun in middle school," Katara says, making a feeble attempt at reassurance as she contemplates which brand of markers to get.

Sokka rolls his eyes. "Says the girl who hasn't even gotten to middle school yet."

Katara scowls and opens her mouth to retort when Hakoda walks down the aisle toward them. The look on his face is grave.

"Leave the things you picked out. We need to go. Now," he snaps when neither Katara nor Sokka make any move to leave.

Eventually they make it back to the car and Katara realizes after about fifteen minutes that they're not headed back to their house. She almost asks her dad where they're going, but she can see his face in the reflection of in the rear view mirror. He looks stricken and this makes Katara's pulse race with nervousness.

They finally pull off the highway and Katara's heart sinks into her stomach when she sees that they're at the hospital.

They park the car and walk inside, into an elevator that takes them to the third floor. When they step out, Katara spots Iroh and someone _else _and nearly bursts into tears.

* * *

><p>Half of his head is wrapped up in bandages and he refuses to acknowledge either Sokka or Katara when they walk into his room.<p>

Sokka spends a couple of minutes trying to get the story of the accident out of Zuko, since the other boy hasn't breathed a word to anyone since he got to the hospital, not even Iroh.

But Zuko doesn't say anything and finally Sokka takes the seat next to his bed and starts to flip through channels on the television. Katara takes the chair near the window and tries not to think about what might be under the bandages covering half of Zuko's face.

They're in there for nearly an hour as Iroh and Hakoda talk outside of the room. Jeopardy is on, and Sokka is focused on the trivia show, occasionally mouthing off his guesses to the answers. He's wrong most of the time.

"I'll tell you." Zuko's voice is so low that Sokka doesn't hear him at first. Katara watches as her brother mutes the television and turns back to his friend, confused.

"I'll tell you what happened," Zuko repeats, and Sokka's eyes widen. "But not with her in the room," Zuko says quietly.

Katara stiffens and gazes questionably between the two boys, her fingers curling along the edge of her seat. She knows that she's not very good friends with Zuko by any means as he's more like a second brother. But this is different, _feels _different. Like she's openly being excluded when something immensely important is one the line.

"Go outside to dad," Sokka says in his Big Brother voice. Katara opens her mouth to argue, to assure both of them that she's good at keeping secrets and that she won't tell anyone, but Sokka shakes his head in one quick jerk. Katara gets up and leaves the room, trying very hard to not let the boys see how watery her blue eyes have gotten.

* * *

><p>Katara isn't told much about Zuko's accident. Just that there was a fire at his house and that his face got burned pretty badly.<p>

And on top of that, Zuko lives with Iroh now and he's transferred schools. He'll be starting seventh grade with Sokka in a week.

Katara doesn't react much to having Zuko as her new neighbor. He's constantly over at the house now, much to Sokka's excitement. But in Katara's opinion she didn't _ask _for two brothers, but that's basically what she's been given.

Everything comes to a head the day Zuko comes home from his second visit to the hospital, this time without the bandages wrapped around his face.

Sokka doesn't react to the burn. He just says that he's going to go and grab some video games from his room and that he'll be back in a second, leaving Katara and Zuko alone in the living room.

Katara, much to her chagrin, can't look away from the angry red burn stretched across Zuko's face. It's not…_hideous_; it'd be cruel of her to think that it was. But it's greatly altered his features. His left eye is pulled tight in the corner now, his ear is a shell of what it once was and some of his hair has been scorched off. It'll probably never grow back in that area.

Gone is the smug boy who used to call her names and irritate her so much. The boy who sits in front of her now? Katara has no idea who he is. He's sitting on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest and is staring listlessly at the wall in front of him.

Katara isn't sure what to do. If her mother was still here she'd bet she'd have some sound advice to give. But she's not and the only person who could've eased her discomfort in this situation is currently upstairs in his room, pretending as if nothing has happened.

"Quit looking at it." Zuko's voice is so sharp and vicious that Katara openly flinches.

"I wasn't—"

"Yes, you were. I'm not _blind_." Zuko turns to fully face her and it's like something from a comic book. Half of his face is smooth and relatively perfect, the other half is torched.

"I-I'm s-sorry," Katara stutters out, mind reeling. Zuko's lips curl downward as he watches her and she shrinks under his gaze. She says the first thing that she can think of. "It's not that bad."

By the instant look of fury that comes over his face, Katara is sure that she's said the wrong thing.

"Of course it's _bad_!" Zuko shouts. "Half my face has been burned off and it's ugly and messed up and I'm a _freak _now so why don't you just keep staring at it?"

Katara whines pathetically and turns her body away from his, letting her hair fall over her face in shame.

"_Hey_."

Katara slowly raises her head, fully prepared to deal with Sokka, as he always sides with Zuko in these types of situations. She's shocked to see his anger fully directed at his friend. "Katara didn't do anything wrong," Sokka says. "You leave her alone." His voice is laced with a warning.

Zuko has the decency to look embarrassed. His golden eyes rake over Katara once and he sighs before slowly nodding.

Sokka flicks his wrist and a game flies out of his hand and lands by Zuko's feet. "You might have a new badass scar, but I bet you still _suck _at Mario Party."

The tips of Zuko's mouth quirk up, his new version of a smile. Sokka quickly plops down beside his friend and soon the two boys are immersed in their game, as if the past five minutes had never even happened.

Katara gets up and quietly leaves the room, her hands trembling. She makes it to her bedroom just in time for her tears to start to fall. She crawls on top of her bed and closes her eyes, but she can't banish the image of Zuko and his new scar. She can still see how angry he was when he was yelling at her for looking, but above that, she can still see how agonized he was over catching her looking in the first place.

She pulls a blanket up over her head and tries to muffle her sobs.

She wakes up about two hours later. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, so the fact that the sun is now setting outside of her window surprises her.

But Zuko standing in her half open doorway surprises her more.

She bolts upright in her bed, eyes wide. She's not sure if he's going to yell at her again or if she should go ahead and apologize one more time just in case.

He blinks at her. "You grandmother sent me to tell you that you should wash up for dinner. It'll be ready soon."

She nods slowly before biting her lip and tilting her head in his direction. She forces herself to look him in the eye. "I'm…I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't—"

"No," he interrupts softly. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's not your fault that this happened to me."

Katara's hands twist into her blanket anxiously. "Is..." she can't seem to find the right words so she decides to just blurt out what's in her head. "Is it going to be there forever?"

"Yeah." Zuko's voice sounds oddly detached. "It's there for the rest of my life."

She lets out a whoosh of breath. "Zuko, it's not so bad," she repeats, but she forces her voice to be firm.

He stares at her for a few moments and she can tell that he doesn't believe her. "Come on," he finally says, waving a hand toward the hallway. "Dinner, stupid head."

She smiles and gets up from out of her bed. He steps aside as she leaves her room, letting her walk in front of him down the stairwell. When they reach the bottom of the steps she stops, turns, and looks up at him. He's missing an eyebrow now, she notices.

"I won't stare again," she swears. "I know that it annoys you."

He shrugs a shoulder casually. "You always annoy me. It's like I got cursed with two little sisters instead of one." And then Zuko does something surprising—he ruffles her hair in an affectionate and brotherly way.

Katara huffs and brushes his hand away, but he's smirking now and she finds herself feeling relieved. Perhaps the other Zuko didn't disappear completely, the one who acts like her irritating surrogate brother.

She won't understand until much, much later how being told that she's like Zuko's sister will end up hindering her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

A short and sweet shooter chapter. I decided to do it this way so there wouldn't be unrelated fodder to go along with Zuko getting his scar, which is a pretty significant milestone.

The next chapter will be a bunch of drabbles, I think, to transition Katara from childhood to her teenage years. And then shit should get real and stay real. ;)

Thoughts?


	5. Awkward

**A/N:**

**A drabble/transition chapter. Enjoy and please make sure to review! :D**

* * *

><p>School has only been in session for about two weeks when it happens for the first time.<p>

Katara is sitting at the kitchen table and working on her science homework when Sokka and Zuko come barreling through the front door. They get home later then she does, since she's not in middle school yet.

Sokka has a black eye and a nose bleed, while Zuko is sporting a split lip.

Katara's blue eyes widen into saucers. "What did you two _do_?" she exclaims, leaping up from her chair and dropping her pencil.

Zuko scoffs and looks down at the floor, but Sokka levels his gaze onto her. "Some kid said something at the bus stop. And believe me, he looks worse."

Katara gives both boys curious looks. "What did he say?" she asks.

"He just said something about my face. It's no big deal. Can we just drop it?" Zuko walks over to the fridge and pulls out two bottles of chocolate milk.

"No big deal?" Sokka shouts at his friend, clearly peeved. "It _is_ a big deal. People can't say stuff like that and think that it's okay."

Katara nods in agreement and Zuko glares at them both. Sokka opens his mouth to continue talking when Hakoda walks into the kitchen with a stern look on his face.

He takes one look at his son and Zuko and rolls his eyes. "Katara," he says, addressing his daughter. "Why don't you get a start on dinner, since your grandmother won't be home until later. _You_—" he shoves a finger into Sokka's shoulder, "—upstairs. Now. You know that fighting is unacceptable behavior."

To Katara's surprise, Sokka doesn't look ashamed like he normally does when Dad scolds him. He keeps his chin up as he marches up the stairs after his father.

Katara quietly makes her way over to the sink, wets a paper towel and then hands it to Zuko. "For your lip," she explains.

He nods, accepting the paper towel and then holding it to his mouth. Silence descends over the kitchen, causing Katara to squirm a bit in discomfort.

"So," she finally says, breaking the quiet. "Do you want a straw for your chocolate milk?"

* * *

><p>They're all supposed to go the local amusement park today. Summer has just kicked off and as everyone starts to load into the car Katara is running around and offering sunscreen to everyone. No one accepts it, too busy being excited (with the exception of Zuko, who's in a foul mood) to mind about proper skin care.<p>

That's when _she _steps out of Iroh's house. Zuko grumbles something nasty underneath his breath and then climbs into the car.

Katara thinks that this girl looks a bit like her brother, especially before he got his scar. Her features are pointed and aristocratic. She's pretty, Katara supposes, and her eyes are golden, just like Zuko's.

Azula steps up to the car and climbs in, sliding over the seat so that she's next to her brother. She has a calm and collected expression on her face and so far Katara isn't sure why Zuko seems to dislike her so much.

Three hours later she understands.

She complains obnoxiously about everything and she's _mean_. But not in the straightforward way; Azula is mean in the backhanded compliment sort of way. Katara thinks that that's even worse.

"Your scar isn't nearly as heinous as I thought it'd be, Zuzu."

"Katara, you're so pretty even despite your clothes!"

"Sokka, you're much less annoying than I thought you'd be. That's a good thing, considering you're friends with my brother."

When it was time to leave everyone is ready to go home. Katara is down to her final straw and has spent the past hour biting her tongue. She doesn't want to snap at Azula and have the girl hate her in turn.

When they pull up in their driveway, Azula makes a snide comment about how "adorable" and "quaint" their house is before getting out of the car and heading back over to Iroh's.

"Are you staying here tonight, Zuko?" Hakoda asks from the driver's seat.

Zuko gives him a somewhat sheepish look. "If you don't mind, sir."

Hakoda lets out a humorless laugh. "Son, I don't blame you."

Ten minutes later Katara, Sokka, and Zuko are in the living room with a bowl of cheese puffs and a horror movie.

"So, your sister," Sokka starts, eyeing his friend out of the corner of his eye, "is pretty interesting."

Zuko scowls. "I barely even consider her my sister." He jerks his head in Katara's direction. "She's more my sister than Azula is."

Something warms in the pit of Katara's twelve year old stomach and she finds herself smiling stupidly at her brother's best friend.

* * *

><p>They're in line for popcorn at the movies when it happens.<p>

Sokka has already gone into the theater to find their seats and Zuko and Katara have struck up a conversation about the newest video game system that's coming out soon.

Katara isn't much of a gamer herself, but since her brother and Zuko are, she's pretty up to date with everything that's going on in the gamer world.

Suddenly Zuko freezes and his pale face turns a bright shade of red.

"What's wrong?" Katara asks, genuinely concerned. She looks around and the spots a pretty girl with black hair walking in their direction. "Do you know her?"

Zuko looks completely mortified and his tongue seems to be stuck to the roof of his mouth.

The girl reaches them and waves shyly at Zuko.

"Hey, Zuko!" she greets him cheerfully. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Hi, Jin," Zuko mutters, voice barely audible.

This Jin girl giggles, as if Zuko is just oh-so-hilarious. "Well, I guess I'll see you at school." She starts to brush by them.

"Bye, Jin," Zuko calls towards her retreating back. He looks stiff and awkward, poor guy.

A part of thirteen year old Katara thinks it's amusing to see Zuko look so uncomfortable around a girl. The other part of her seethes.

Later, however, when she, Sokka, and Zuko go out for ice cream after the movie and Zuko "accidentally" gets chocolate fudge on her nose, cheeks, and chin, Katara forgets all about the stupid Jin girl.

* * *

><p>She's fourteen and the warm feeling in her stomach that Katara gets around Zuko has developed into a full blown crush.<p>

She and Suki will giggle about him over the phone. She writes out her first name with his last name in random pages in her history notebook. She pours over magazines like J-14 and Tiger Beat, in hopes of gaining as much boy advice and "knowledge" as she possibly can.

When Zuko gets his license and starts driving her and Sokka to and from school, all the while talking to her about anything and everything, she thinks she might actually have a chance.

Because slowly, over the years, her brother's friend has become _her_ friend too. She trusts him and he trusts her. She knows a lot of his secrets, and she's pretty sure she's spilled the beans about _nearly_ everything to him.

She knows that she and Zuko are just meant to be.

* * *

><p>"I'm going to tell him how I feel."<p>

Suki and Ty Lee's mouth's both fall open. They're all in Katara's room and there's magazines, nail polish, and candy spread all over the floor.

"Really?" Ty Lee says, eyes wide in shock. "But, I mean, haven't you known him _forever_? You don't want to ruin your friendship with him. "Plus, he's _seventeen_."

Katara shrugs one shoulder and picks out a bottle of polish for her toes. "So? _I'm_ fifteen. I know it's a risk, but doesn't everyone say that guys like a girl who's confident? Being assertive about how I feel is confidence, so Zuko should theoretically appreciate that."

"I say go for it," Suki says with a smirk on her face. "He totally digs you, I can tell."

"Really?" Katara says, forcing herself not to swoon like an idiot. She props her elbow up on her knee and tries to look casual.

Suki nods. "Totally. When are you going to tell him?"

Katara smiles. "Sometime in the next month or so. I want to wait until the perfect moment." She leans forward, excitement clearly written on her face, and her two friends lean forward as well. "I got this new bathing suit, right? And this new pair of shorts. Let's just say that I can't wear either of them around my dad."

"Oh my _god_," Ty Lee says, hiding a giggle behind her hand. "Katara, you're so pretty. I bet he'll ask you out before you even get the chance to tell him how you feel. But what about your brother?"

Suki blushes at the mention of Sokka.

Katara shrugs. "He'll get over it."

"What if he kisses you?" Ty Lee practically shouts and both Katara and Suki shush her in order to make her be quiet.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Katara says quickly, trying to ignore the nervous stammer that her heart is beating inside of her chest. Her brother and the object of her affections are right down stairs, after all. "I haven't even said anything to him yet."

Suki and Ty Lee both nod, and soon the conversation drifts away from boys and settles on other topics as the three girls paint each other's toe nails.

That night Katara falls asleep feeling giddier then she has in a long while.

* * *

><p>A few days later Katara takes note that a house down the street has gone up for sale.<p>

She wonders what the new neighbors will be like.


	6. The Fourth

"_That_ is so unfair."

Katara does a little spin while standing in place, showing off her new bathing suit to Suki. She can't stop grinning. "Unfair? How come?"

Suki is sitting on the edge of Katara's bed in a one-piece. "Because you look awesome. Because you have boobs and I'm still waiting for mine to announce their presence."

Katara snorts and shakes her head. She grabs a hair band and holds it up. "Hair up or down?"

Suki taps her then chin in thought before finally saying, "Down. Definitely down."

Katara looks into the mirror and spends the next few moments fussing over her long, wavy tresses. She can barely think, her heart is beating so wildly. Zuko and Sokka are already outside in the pool. She and Suki would have to walk down there any minute.

"Are you nervous?"

"No," Katara lies, never taking her eyes off of her mirror. "I'm just excited. I think I picked a good day to tell him."

She spots Suki nodding in the reflection. "Me too. A budding relationship underneath fireworks…" Suki sighs dreamily. "I can't wait."

Her hair finally looking acceptable, Katara turns around and smiles at her best friend. "You sound like Ty Lee."

Suki snorts and then stands up. "You ready?"

Katara nods and follows her friend out of her bedroom and down the stairs. It's not like she's going to tell Zuko now, of course. She has to time it just right. She's thinking of telling him over ice cream, or maybe some time when the sun is setting.

When the two girls walk outside the first thing Katara spots is a soaking wet Zuko. A soaking wet _shirtless_ Zuko.

She feels the blood rushing to her cheeks as Suki nudges her in the ribs. She forces herself to look away from the object of her affection. She would need to feign nonchalance for the time being.

"Sokka!" she calls out to her brother. "Where's Dad?"

Sokka shrugs. "He won't be home until tonight. He says that he'll probably miss the fireworks."

Katara can hear the vague disappointment in her brother's voice, but truthfully she's excited about this. Her Dad would kill her if he saw her in a bikini. He'd probably humiliate her in front of everyone and make her go upstairs and change.

She walks over to Zuko and playfully pushes his shoulder. "Happy 4th of July!" she exclaims with a grin.

Zuko gives her an extremely forced smile in response. "Yeah."

Katara tilts her head to the side and frowns. "What's with you?"

Zuko switches his weight between his feet nervously. "Nothing. I don't know what you're talking about." Typical Zuko, automatically switching into defense mode.

Katara doesn't believe him, but she opts not to say anything. Today is such an important day for their relationship. It'd be best not to stir up things between the two of them.

She sits by the pool and lets her feet drop into the water. She leans back against her palms and tries to present herself in the most alluring way possible. So far Zuko hasn't seemed to notice her bikini—his eyes haven't bulged out in shock and he hasn't been staring at her stupidly the way magazines and books dictated that he should be, but that's okay. There's still plenty of time left in the day.

She watches Zuko out of the corner of her eye, hoping that he'll come and sit next to her, but he's too preoccupied. He keeps checking his phone every minute, much to Katara's annoyance.

To her slight disappointment, her brother comes and sits next to her instead. By the way that he's looking at her she can tell that he's about to own up to something. "So, me and Zuko invited a couple of friends over."

Katara narrows her eyes. "But Dad said that it was only supposed to be me, you, Zuko, and Suki."

Sokka looks sheepish. "Yeah, but see, Dad isn't here…"

"Sokka."

"Come on, Katara. Don't say anything to Dad, okay? Today is going to be fun, I promise." Then her brother pats her shoulder and stands up, but not before splashing water onto her and subsequently getting her hair wet. She shrieks in indignation and stands up quickly, glaring daggers at her brother.

But Sokka doesn't seem to care. He and Zuko are laughing about something and then both boys turn and jump into the pool.

Katara passes the time by lathering her body with sunscreen. She slowly rubs it into her legs, hoping that Zuko will notice. When he doesn't she tosses the bottle aside in frustration.

Eventually Zuko climbs out of the pool and spreads out on one of the lounge chairs. That's when Katara gets an idea. She bolts up from her spot beside the pool and trots inside and into the kitchen. She quickly makes two ice cream cones, making sure to add some sprinkles onto the top. Zuko likes sprinkles.

She takes her time walking back outside. She sucks in her stomach (not that there's much stomach to suck in) and straightens her back. As she sits down in the longue chair beside Zuko she's careful to slowly cross her legs out in front of her.

She holds out the cone to Zuko. "Ice cream?" she offers casually.

Zuko blinks in surprise. "Oh, thanks." He takes it from her hand and gives her one appreciative nod.

Katara sucks in a breath and starts to mentally prepare herself. She's about to spill her heart out. Fear curls in her stomach and she quickly licks up some of her own melting ice cream in order to calm herself dowm.

But before she can say anything, Zuko's phone goes off. He reads the text message and then his face splits into a wide grin. "Hey Sokka, they're here!" he calls out. He leaps up from his chair and then hands Katara back his cone. "Can you hold this for me?" he asks, but he doesn't wait for an answer. He quickly leaves the backyard and heads to the front of the house.

Katara catches a sympathetic look from Suki from across the pool.

She hears car doors closing and giggling, _feminine_ giggling. Her heart sinks.

Zuko, Sokka, and two girls walk into the backyard. Katara has never seen the girl with Sokka before. She's pretty, with long, white blonde hair and tan skin. She's walking next to Sokka with her arms crossed over her chest, modestly peeking up at him through her eyelashes. The girl next to Zuko, though… Katara recognizes her. It's the girl that Zuko greeted at the movie theater ages ago. She's only gotten prettier since the last time Katara saw her. Her dark hair is long and pulled back in a ponytail, her eyes are big and kind, and her arm is linked with Zuko's.

Katara's throat goes dry.

And then Zuko and his new girl are standing in front of her. Zuko has a big, stupid smile on his face and all the sudden the only thing Katara wants to do is shove both of the ice cream cones that she's holding into his annoying face.

"Katara, you remember Jin?"

Katara nods and turns her blue gaze onto the girl who's clinging onto the guy who is supposed to be _hers_.

"It's so great to officially meet you!" Jin exclaims cheerfully. "I've heard so much about you!"

Katara narrows her eyes at her brother's best friend. "Is that so?" she snaps.

Zuko's expression turns from happy to confused, obviously surprised by her sudden hostility. He opens his mouth to answer her, but Jin butts in. "Totally! He's always talking about you and Sokka. He calls you his _real_ siblings."

Katara's eyes widen and she feels sick to her stomach. "Oh," is all she can manage.

She watches Zuko grab Jin's hand, watches as he stands extremely close to the other girl, watches as the two start laughing, watches as he picks her up and tosses her into the pool playfully.

Katara can't breathe. She stands up and marches away from the pool, viciously throwing the cones into the trashcan as she heads inside, allowing the door to bang shut behind her.

Angry tears start to fill her eyes. She blindly makes it into her bedroom before collapsing onto her bed. She's furious, and mostly at herself. How stupid could she be, to think that Zuko would be interested in her? She doesn't even start high school until the fall. She isn't even sixteen. He only sees her as a kid, and that's all he'd ever see her as.

There's a quiet knock on her door and Katara turns her head around to see the one person that she _doesn't _want to see.

"Go away, Zuko."

He tilts his head to the side and she hates the fact that there's genuine concern on his face. "Katara, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She lays her head back down on the pillow and sighs. "It's nothing."

Zuko runs a hand through his wet hair. "I don't believe you, but I really want everyone to have fun, okay? So why don't you come on down and hang out? Jin really wants to get to know—"

"I told you to _go away_!" she shouts from her bed, eyes narrowed into a glare.

Zuko's expression is supposed to fall. He's supposed to sit on the edge of her bed and demand that she tell him why she's upset. He's supposed to listen to her as she spills her feelings about him, and then he's supposed to tell her that he returns them. He's supposed to hug her, or maybe even kiss her. He's supposed to _like her back_.

Instead, he shrugs one shoulder. "Whatever," he mumbles under his breath, obviously irritated. Then he turns around and walks back downstairs.

* * *

><p>Katara lies in her bed for another solid hour. She cries for a little bit, but eventually she calms down enough to stare at her dresser and think. Zuko doesn't like her in that way. Zuko clearly likes another girl, an older girl. Katara can't compete with that.<p>

Finally she gets up and pulls a pair of shorts and a tank-top over her bikini and walks downstairs and out the front door. She plops down on the front porch and rests her head in her hand. It's a little less confining to be depressed out here than it is to be depressed in her bedroom.

She can hear splashing and screaming coming from the backyard and her chest squeezes. A part of her feels bad for abandoning Suki, but mostly she feels grateful for having a best friend who understands her enough to leave her by herself.

Her eyes had just closed and she's enjoying the feel of the sun against her skin when something licks her face.

She squeaks and immediately moves into a standing position.

A dog is happily staring up at her.

"Flea!" someone is calling out, and the next thing Katara knows a boy has run up to her. A very cute boy.

He screams California. He's tan, with shaggy hair and a laid-back expression. He smirks at her, oozing confidence.

"Flea is an interesting name for a dog," Katara points out, propping a hand onto her hip.

The new boy smiles at her now. "I named him when I was a kid." He sticks out his hand. "I'm Jet."

Katara accepts his handshake. "Katara."

"Pretty name."

She feels herself blush. "Thanks. Did you just move into the house down the street?"

Jet nods. "Yeah. I'm from—"

"California?" Katara finishes with a mischievous smile.

Jet ducks his head a little bit and Katara feels her heart speed up in her chest. He's _so_ cute. "Yep. Just moved from there with my aunt and uncle."

Katara realizes with a jolt that she's still clutching his hand. She quickly releases it. "Well, welcome to the east coast," she teases.

"Why, thank you." And then he sits down onto her porch, Flea curling up at his feet.

Feeling a little surprised at this boy's boldness, Katara slowly sits down next to him. She prays that Sokka doesn't come out here to check up on her. Katara hanging out with a strange boy probably wouldn't fly with her brother.

"What grade are you in?" Katara asks, trying to steer the conversation toward his age.

"I'll be a sophomore. You too?"

She shakes her head. "Freshmen."

He blinks in surprise. "You look older." And then, much to Katara's delight, Jet makes a point in giving her entire body a once over. She giggles and lowers her head, letting her long hair fall forward over her shoulders. It's nice to finally receive some attention from someone of the opposite sex.

Jet nudges her in the ribs playfully and Katara giggles. Eventually the two teenagers start discussing everything from music, to television, to sports.

Jet is very suave, Katara comes to learn, and he's a huge flirt. However, after what had happened earlier in the day, Katara isn't too bothered by the second fact. This new neighbor is fun, cool, and intelligent. But the best part is that he seems to be interested in her as well.

After talking to him for over an hour, Katara stands up and brushes off her shorts. "Do you want to meet some of my friends? They're hanging out in the pool."

Jet's eyes widen in excitement. "You have a pool?"

Katara grins and nods. She leads Jet off the porch and around the house, through the gate and into the backyard. All of her friends are gathered at the side of the pool, drying themselves off with towels. Sokka looks like he's about to shout out something playful to her, but then he spots Jet walking behind her. His whole demander changes.

"Katara, who is that?" he asks pointedly, immediately coming to stand in front of them.

"This is Jet," Katara introduces. "Jet, this is Sokka, my brother. Over there is Suki, my best friend, and then there's Zuko and his, um, friend Jin. And then there's…"

"Yue," the girl who had walked in next to Sokka smiles and waves.

"Jet is our new neighbor," Katara provides helpfully, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet. She can see Suki's curious expression from where she's sitting beside Yue. Katara knows that she'll have to spill the beans to her best friend, but that will have to wait until later.

Jet nods to everyone courteously, but he stays glued to Katara's side for the rest of the evening. He and Katara eat burgers together and share a bag of potato chips, and eventually the two of them strike up a conversation with Suki. Katara has a warm feeling budding in her chest, and it grows warmer and warmer every time she and Jet catch each other's eye.

By the time the sun is starting to set everyone starts to get ready to walk down the street in order to find the best spot to watch the fireworks.

She and Jet race each other down the street with Flea running beside them and barking happily. Soon the first few fireworks start to go off, illuminating the night sky with bright colors. It's then that Jet takes her hand.

After a little while Katara catches Zuko's gaze. She hasn't spoken to him since earlier in the day.

His golden eyes are ice cold.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

**Sorry for the delay in updating this. I meant to have it up earlier in the week, but stupid real life got in the way. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.**

**And we have officially met Jet! What did you guys think?**


	7. The First and the Second

So far, high school is pretty awful.

Katara shuffles through the hallways, clutching her textbooks to her chest and trying not to get run over by the extremely large and intimidating senior boys.

And everyone is looking at her like she's a fresh piece of meat.

She wishes right now more than ever that Suki didn't have to go to some stupid private school.

However, the worst thing is when the teachers see her and automatically think that she'll be just like Sokka. Her Biology teacher gave her a pretty potent glare when she read out Katara's last name during roll call.

In fact, the only decent thing about today, her first day of high school, is that she happens to have the same lunch period as Jet.

They sit together at the same table, Jet with nachos and cheese fries, and Katara with a sandwich and an apple.

"So." Jet's grin is already putting her at ease. "You've survived the first half of the day."

Katara nods, shining her apple against her shirt. "Yeah. I did what you suggested; I memorized the school map so that I would already have a vague idea of where everything was."

Jet starts piling his fries on top of his nachos. There is cheese everywhere. "I've been the new kid enough times to know that having your map out in front of you is just asking to be heckled."

Katara bites into her apple and chews thoughtfully for a moment. "I think my Biology teacher already hates me."

Jet quirks an eyebrow. "How so?"

"She used to teach Sokka."

Jet snorts. He's about to shove a handful of nachos and fries into his mouth when a pretty blonde girl slips onto the bench next to him.

"Hey, Jet," she greets, ducking her head with feigned shyness.

Katara immediately dislikes her.

Jet quickly swallows his food. "Hey, Karen." He nods in her direction, seeming only half interested in her. This only seems to make the other girl even more determined to gain his full attention.

Katara bites into her sandwich, making sure to crunch down loudly on the lettuce. She narrows her blue eyes into an intense glare.

Karen's brown eyes swivel in her direction briefly before turning back to Jet. Obviously, the other girl is intent on ignoring her.

Katara is about to spit out something petty and jealous, when a hand lands on her shoulder. Katara looks up and nearly spites out the food in her mouth.

Jin, who has been Zuko's girlfriend for well over a month (they went Facebook Official about a week after the pool party), is grinning down at her. She offers Katara an awkward wave. "Hey! I didn't know that you had this lunch."

Katara places her sandwich back down on the table. Jet and the blonde are both watching her curiously. "Yep," she states after clearing her throat. "This is my lunch."

Jin sits down next to her, clearly undeterred by Katara's lack of enthusiasm. "So, how is your first day going? Tell me about it."

Katara feels herself flush. "Um, my teachers all seem nice."

"Yeah, except for that one that already hates you," Jet says.

"Oh, that's nothing!" Katara spits out quickly, already dreading the look of growing concern on Jin's face.

"What, why?" the older girl asks, glancing back and forth between Katara and Jet.

Katara shrugs one shoulder. "She just isn't sure about me because she taught Sokka. I'm sure she'll come around. Really, it's nothing."

Jin looks like she's about to say something else, but suddenly her whole demander changes. She shifts her position so that she's looking around Katara's body.

Katara glances over her shoulder curiously, and her heart speeds up in her chest. Zuko is walking toward their table, an easy smile on his face.

Katara would like to think that his smile is because of her, but she knows that it's not.

Sighing, she turns her attention back to her food.

But the Big Man Upstairs clearly doesn't want her day to be that simple. Zuko comes to stand behind her and Jin. He leans down and kisses his girlfriend on the forehead and Katara sucks in a deep breath in order to steady herself.

"Hey, Katara." Zuko ruffles her hair affectionately. He turns in Jet's direction. "Guy who is always hanging out with Katara."

Jet stiffens, and the look he gives Zuko is nothing less than a challenge. "Guy who is always at Katara's house, despite the fact that he lives next door."

Both boys narrow their eyes.

Jin lets out a nervous giggle. "You two are funny. You both know that you know each other's names."

Jet grabs his plate of food and gets to his feet. "See you later, Katara." Except he doesn't even look at her. He walks away, and the blonde quickly stands up and follows him to the other side of the cafeteria.

Zuko, much to Katara's irritation and curiosity, looks satisfied with himself.

"You're such an ass," Katara grumbles, picking her sandwich back up.

Zuko doesn't seem offended. He sits next to Jin, but looks around his girlfriend so that he can see Katara. "Well, Sokka doesn't have this lunch. Someone has to play the big brother role."

Katara frowns. "But you're not my brother."

"Might as well be," Zuko says with a shrug. "And can you please ditch that guy? He seems like a total tool."

Katara gathers up her food and gets up. "You don't even know him, Zuko." She nods at Jin before turning around and marching out of the cafeteria.

She'll finish her lunch in the hallway.

* * *

><p>"The 'big brother role', huh?" Suki sends her a sympathetic look from where she's sitting on the floor, bent over a pile of homework. "That sucks."<p>

It's Friday night, and both girls are determined to knock out their schoolwork before the weekend really starts. Katara has, to her pleasant surprise, managed to endure her first week of freshman year.

Katara nods solemnly from her bed. "Yep. And I haven't even told you about what happened yesterday."

Suki sets down her pencil. "What? What happened?"

Katara picks at a loose thread in her pajama pants. The memory alone is making her sick to her stomach. "I caught Jin and Zuko making out by the pool yesterday."

Suki winces.

"They were all apologetic and embarrassed when I walked outside, and it was so _stupid_, and all I could do was just stand there like an idiot before running back inside."

Suki bites her lower lip. "I'm sorry, Katara."

Katara shrugs, trying desperately to hide the fact that her eyes are tearing by acting nonchalant. "It's just so dumb because I still kind of like him." She crosses her arms over her chest and leans back against her headboard. At this point, she's abandoned her American Lit homework.

"You're too good for him," Suki says sternly. "You are! You're basically amazing and he was too stupid to notice that you were right under his nose all along. He's going to regret it one day. He's going to be _totally _miserable—"

"Yeah, he seemed real miserable yesterday when I caught him with his tongue down Jin's throat."

Suki sighs. "That is a bummer, I will admit." She immediately perks up. "But, hey! There's still Jet. You like him. You told me that you did."

Katara's mood sours even further. "He's been hanging out with this stupid bimbo all week. He's barely been returning my texts." Katara leans forward in her bed. "He was attached to my hip all summer and now it's…it's like he's embarrassed to be seen with me. Have you been lying to me all this time, Suki? Am I hideous or something?"

Suki rolls her eyes before rapidly shaking her head. "_No_, Katara. You're seriously gorgeous. And you're amazing. Unfortunately for you and the rest of us girls, the male gender is just stupid. All around stupid."

Katara falls back dramatically onto her bed, head hitting her pillow. "Whatever," she grumbles.

The next thing she knows, Suki is poking her in the ribs. "Come on," her best friend says. "I have just the thing to make you feel better."

"What's that?"

"A box of Oreos and several bags of Skittles."

* * *

><p>Even though it's approaching September, the sun is still hot. It beats against Katara's bare legs and shoulders. She's now regretting not lathering up on the suntan lotion.<p>

She's not swimming in her pool today. Mostly, she's just enjoying sitting outside and reading her American Lit assignment.

Perhaps it's weird that she's spending her Saturday afternoon doing homework. Oh well.

Currently, she's making her way through _The Great Gatsby_, which is turning out to be vastly more interesting than she'd originally thought. In fact, she's so into it that she misses the sound of the door slamming, the sound of footsteps approaching her, and the sound of a throat clearing.

It's not until Jet shakes her shoulder, causing her to jump and shriek, doe she even notice that he's there.

He laughs at her reaction, shaking his head with amusement. He's brought Flea with him, and the dog licks Katara's hand in greeting before turning around and leaping into the pool with a bark.

"Are you seriously spending your Saturday doing homework?" Jet asks, gesturing to her book with his finger.

Katara closes her book with a snap. "Maybe. What's it to you?"

Jet chuckles. "You're weird."

Feeling a little affronted, Katara lifts one shoulder and turns her body away from him. "Yeah, well," she mutters, annoyed.

"That's one of the reasons why I like you. Really like you," Jet continues, unaffected by her reaction.

Katara's blue eyes widen. Is he confessing what she thinks that he's confessing? Her heart is beating a mile a minute, and a tingling feeling starts in the lower part of Katara's belly. Her stomach may or may not have crawled up her esophagus.

She gets to her feet, letting her book fall out of her lap. "What do you mean you 'like me'?"

Jet rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. His face is turning red, and Katara's pretty sure it has nothing to do with how hot it is outside. "I mean, I like you, Katara. Like, like-like. As in, I would date you because you're awesome."

Katara's mouth opens and closes so many times that she's sure that she looks like a fish. "B—But you've been ignoring me all week! And what about that stupid Karen girl—"

"Karen? No way, Katara. That chick followed me around at school the first couple of days and kept trying to get me to give her my number. Plus, she was weird. And not cool-weird, like you. But terrifying-weird. Like, maybe-she's-a-secret-cannibal-or-something kind of weird."

Katara laughs and her whole being feels euphoric. "You're such an ass." But her words are playful.

"And I'm sorry about avoiding you," Jet says. "That surrogate brother of yours kind of freaks me out sometimes." He gestures to his face, getting his point across. "But, I decided that he didn't matter. You did."

Still smiling, although maybe now her heart isn't beating as fast, Katara gazes out over the pool. The blue water is shimmering in the sunlight, and Katara thinks that it's perfect, that this whole day might actually turn out to be perfect. As perfect as it could be, given the circumstances, anyway.

When she looks back at Jet, she finds that he's stepped right up to her. The next thing she knows he's bending his head down and kissing her.

His lips are soft, much softer than she expected.

When he pulls away she blinks stupidly for a moment. "That was my first kiss," she blurts out, as she can think of nothing (or maybe way too many things) to say.

"Really?" Jet looks genuinely surprised. Then he smirks. "Well, here comes your second."

And then he kisses her again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

**Short and sweet. I know it's not all that long, but I wanted to give you all something to chew on before I leave for vacation in six hours.**

**Thank you so much to everyone who dropped a review for the last chapter! You guys are the best.**

**Lots of lurkers for this story, I'd _love_ to get your opinion! I don't bite, promise!**

**Anyway, hope everyone enjoying and leave me your thoughts! :D**


	8. Munchies

**A/N:**

**Good news, the 'M' rating starts to kick in a bit during this chapter. I know that some of you were waiting on that, hahaha.**

* * *

><p>"JET!"<p>

Katara's boyfriend reluctantly pulls his mouth away from her collarbone and rolls off of her. "What?!" he shouts over his shoulder, frustration flashing across his face.

"I NEED YOU IN THE KITCHEN FOR A SECOND!" His aunt's voice manages to resonate from all the way downstairs, and Jet gets to his feet with a groan. He flashes Katara an apologetic grin. "Sorry." Then he steps out of his room, the door nearly swinging closed behind him.

Katara slowly sits up and readjusts her rumpled blouse. She and Jet have been going out for about a month and a half, and that was definitely one of their hotter make out sessions.

She finger combs her hair and glances around his room curiously. His walls are a mostly bare, decorated with only one Blink-182 poster and a couple of drawings. Katara shakes her head. Typical teenage boy.

She looks at his cluttered bedside table and notices for the first time that the drawer is partially open.

Katara doesn't like to consider herself a nosy person, but on the other hand…

She quickly yanks open the drawer and peers curiously inside. The first thing she sees is a couple of issues of _Playboy _and her blue eyes roll to the ceiling. Typical teenage boy. The porn is accompanied by a couple of packs of gum and a Batman action figure, which makes her smile. She pushes the superhero aside and then freezes.

Tucked in the far corner of the drawer is a small box of condoms.

Gulping, Katara slowly pushes the drawer shut and shifts uncomfortably on the bed, eyes wide.

Before she can collect her thoughts, Jet bursts back into the room. "Sorry," he says again, walking over to his bed and sitting down next to her.

Instead of initiating another kiss, like Katara thinks he might, he reaches for his backpack.

Katara tries to smile at the fact that Jet actually want to work on homework with her, but her mind is running a mile a minute. "Science homework, huh?" she observes lamely as Jet pulls out his chemistry textbook.

He nods. "I have a 'D'."

Katara frowns at this, a little surprised. "But you're good at science."

Jet shrugs casually. "Yeah, but I never actually do my homework. Well, until tonight. I don't want to fail."

Katara nods in acknowledgement before swiftly standing up and brushing nonexistent dust off of her jeans. "Um, I should probably go."

Jet narrows his brown eyes in suspicion. "Are you okay? You usually never leave this early." Then he cocks his head to the side and smirks. "Did you see my _Playboy_ copies or something?"

Katara lets out a nervous, tittering laugh. "Uh, no, of course not. I just have to cook dinner tonight, that's all." It's _technically_ true.

Jet hesitates for a moment, obviously concerned, before accepting her answer. "Er, okay then." He suddenly perks up. "I'll see you tomorrow when I come by to drop off Flea. Thanks again for watching him this weekend."

Katara gives her boyfriend a small smile, but it's genuine this time. "No problem. I love Flea. He's like an extended member of the family. My cat hates him, though."

Jet snorts. "Fuzzy hates everyone."

"Well, she is a little senile." Katara grabs her bag and purse before quickly leaning down and pecking Jet on the lips. "See you tomorrow!" she says before she all but sprints out of his room, down the stairs, and out of his house.

* * *

><p>Suki does not pick up her phone. So Katara leaves a message.<p>

"CALL ME AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS _I NEED YOUR INPUT _OH MY GOD."

* * *

><p>The next day, Katara waits by the front door, so when Suki finally arrives Katara wretches the door open before her friend can even ring the doorbell. Flea bounds around Suki's feet excitedly, clearly happy to see a new friend.<p>

Suki's hand is still posed in midair. "What was with the message?" she blurts out by way of greeting. "You knew I was coming over today. There's no way I would miss this weekend."

Katara grabs her friend's elbow and yanks her inside. "I can't believe you didn't call me back!" she cries. "Ty Lee is on her way," she states, crossing her arms across her chest. "I have to make dinner for the boys, so I can't tell you two about what happened yesterday just yet."

Suki rolls her eyes. "Then what was with that desperate voice mail?"

"You'd know if you'd bothered calling me back _or_ if you'd gotten here earlier!" Katara's voice is panicky, causing Suki's eyebrows to raise in concern. But before her friend can ask her what's going on, Sokka and Zuko burst through the backdoor and into the kitchen.

Katara can't say what she wants to say to Suki. There's no way she can risk her brother and Zuko possibly overhearing.

Katara sucks in a deep breath and makes her way to the kitchen, Suki on her heels.

This weekend is going to be interesting. Dad is away on business and Gran-Gran has been out of town visiting friends for the past couple of weeks. This means that Sokka is technically in charge for the weekend. It is going to be chaos.

Katara struts into the kitchen and grabs a frying pan from the cupboard. She'll be making tacos tonight; nothing too fancy.

Zuko and Sokka are leaning against the island table, talking about nothing in particular.

"Did you hear about the chick who wants to try out for the football team?" Sokka says. "How stupid is that?" he makes grand gestures with his hands and shakes his head.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Suki snaps out from where she's leaning up against the fridge. Katara presses her lips together and forces herself not to laugh. This is going to be fun.

Sokka turns his attention onto Suki. "It means that football isn't a game for girls."

Suki shrugs one shoulder. "Sure it is."

Sokka frowns. "No, it isn't."

"Anything boys can do, girls can do better," Suki says. "Everyone knows that."

"Except _not_. Boys are faster, stronger, and more physically capable than girls. Everyone knows _that_." Sokka crosses his arms and attempts to look intimidating. It's cute.

Suki looks a little pissed off. She pushes herself off the fridge with her hip and walks over to the other side of the island table, across from Sokka. She props her right arm up on the table. "Arm wrestle me. Now."

Sokka snorts and smirks, propping his arm up and grasping Suki's hand in his. "Okay, but don't get too upset when I wipe the floor with you, girly."

Suki instantly slams Sokka's fist on top of the counter. And when Sokka immediately demands a redo, she does it again. And again.

Katara and Zuko are openly laughing.

"You're cheating!" Sokka accuses, looking furious.

Suki smiles smugly. "Nope. I'm just stronger then you. Suck on _that_."

The two of them break out into an argument, so Zuko comes to stand beside Katara.

"That smells good," he comments as Katara sprinkles seasoning into the taco meat.

She glances up briefly and gives him a soft smile. "Thank you. It's going to be delicious, if I do say so myself."

Zuko nods and sighs, staring down into the sizzling pan. "So. How are things with that boyfriend of yours?"

Katara stiffens but forces herself not to physically react. "Everything is fine," she spits out quickly, feeling her heartbeat speed up. "Just peachy."

"Too bad he's out of town this weekend. He could've come over and hung out with the rest of us."

But Katara easily catches the insincerity in Zuko's voice.

She turns her entire attention onto him. "What is with you? Why do you have a problem with him?" she asks. "He's never done anything to you!"

Zuko's golden eyes narrow down at her. "I just get bad vibes, okay? You deserve better than some—"

"Shut _up_! You barely know him! You've been a jerk to him every since you've met him!"

"I just don't want you to get hurt," Zuko says. His eyes are a little wide and his expression softens and everything inside Katara's chest melts. She lets out a deep breath and turns back to her frying pan.

"I'm a big girl, Zuko. You don't have to treat me like I'm a little kid anymore."

The corner of Zuko's mouth curves up into a tiny smile. He ruffles her hair. "But you'll always be that way to be, stupidhead."

* * *

><p>Ty Lee is on the floor, Suki is at the end of the bed, and Katara is at the front, sitting on top of her giant pillow.<p>

The two other girls are staring at her with wide eyes.

"You found _what _in his drawer?!" Ty Lee exclaims, hands resting on her knees. Suki's mouth is hanging open in speechlessness.

Katara is nervously running her fingers through the ends of her hair. "But, why would he need condoms? I mean, we've barely been going out for over a month! We're just now crossing over into second base." Then she stills completely. "Wait! What if he's the kind of guy who expects sex quickly, or something?"

Ty Lee is shaking her head in disbelief. "You guys haven't talked about sex yet? Not even in casual conversation?"

Katara can feel her cheeks start to burn. "I just, I don't know! It's just so awkward. I thought that we could take our time or something—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Suki spreads out her arms. "You still haven't told us the most important detail, Katara. What size were they?"

Katara's hands freeze in her hair. "I don't know. I didn't see," she squeaks.

"_How could you not look?"_

"Oh, I'm sorry, in the midst of my shock it didn't occur to me to check out that part!"

Suki's eyes are wide. "How could you not look?! Now you don't even have a clue of the equipment that you might be working with!"

Katara covers her face with her hands. "Oh my god! I'm not having sex with Jet anytime soon!" And then an idea occurs to her and she feels her insides go ice cold. "Wait. What if he doesn't plan on using the condoms with me?"

Both of her friends go completely still with shock. And then they start rapidly shaking their heads at the same time.

"Of course not, Katara!"

"You're over thinking things! He's totally into you and only you."

Katara relaxes slightly under her friends' words. But still.

"I guess I could maybe talk to him about it."

Ty Lee nods in approval. "That's a good idea. Communication is key."

Katara drums her fingers against her knee. "I'll mention it to him on—"

Zuko and Sokka burst into her room, making all three girls shriek. Zuko snorts and starts cracking up while Sokka looks around the room wildly. "Hey, Katara, do you still keep Oreos in here?" he asks wistfully.

Katara wrinkles her nose at her brother. "Not at the moment…" she trails off. That's when she notices how red her brother's eyes are. She slaps her hand to her mouth.

Zuko bends down and studies Katara's movie collection. "Oh shit, here's that movie where the emperor turns into a llama. Sokka, Sokka, we should watch that!"

Utter joy crosses over Sokka's face. "That, my friend, sounds like a brilliant idea. But first, cookies." He gives Katara an expectant look.

"Sokka," Katara starts off slowly, "are you _high_?"

Her brother looks absurdly affronted. "What? Us?" He moves a finger between him and Zuko. "High? No. No, of course not. Why would you think that?"

"Probably because you're acting high," Suki comments dryly.

Zuko is giving Sokka a wide eyed, paranoid look. "Dude, they _know_."

Katara gets off of her bed eagerly. "Can I try some?"

"No!" Sokka snaps. "What kind of big brother would I be if I let you get stoned under my watch?"

"Uh, a _great _one?!"

"Sokka," Zuko interjects, golden eyes rimmed with red. "Aren't there popsicles in your freezer?"

"Oh my god, there _are_."

Both boys are gone from Katara's room and are down the stairs in record time.

Suki climbs off of Katara's bed. "So, I think we should follow them and observe them. You know, in case we ever have to write an anti-drug essay, or something."

All three girls rush out of the bedroom. They spend the next two hours watching Zuko and Sokka laugh over nothing in particular.

* * *

><p>It's dark in Katara's room. Suki and Ty Lee are stretched out over blankets and pillows on Katara's floor.<p>

Katara is about to fall asleep when Ty Lee's voice cuts through the quiet. "Hey, can I talk to you guys about something?"

Suki moans tiredly. "I suppose."

Ty Lee takes in a deep breath and then continues. "Well, you two are always talking about boys and who you like, and stuff."

"Yeah?" Katara prompts from atop her bed.

Ty Lee's voice sounds breezy, despite the late hour. "There's this boy in my geometry class who's seriously a babe. He totally got hot over the summer, since he used to have this god awful mustache, but he finally shaved it off so now he doesn't look like a creepy porn star anymore. Anyway, I really like him and he seems interested in me. It's just there's someone else in that class who I kind of like too."

Katara can almost feel Suki's exasperation. "So?" the other girl quips. "You like two people at the same time. That's happened to everyone."

"The other person is a girl," Ty Lee blurts out.

There is silence for a long time.

"I mean, I kind of like her as much as I like the boy. She's solemn and angry, but I don't know. It's like, I feel the need to cuddle her and make her smile and stuff."

"Maybe you just want to be her friend?" Katara offers lamely.

She can hear Ty Lee's head shaking against her pillow. "I don't think you're supposed to want to kiss your friends."

More silence.

"That's cool, Ty Lee," Suki says. "If you like girls, I mean… It's not like Katara and I will like you any less. You're still our friend."

"Really?" Ty Lee's voice is relieved and hopeful. "I thought that you guys would think that I was gross or something."

"No. Your overly cheerful demeanor in the morning is gross. You having a crush on a girl is not gross." Then Suki rolls over onto her side and falls asleep.

Katara can't see all that well in the dark, but she's pretty sure that both she and Ty Lee fell asleep smiling that night.

* * *

><p>On Sunday, Jet greets her with a chaste kiss on the lips.<p>

Her dad is watching from the inside of her house, after all.

"Thanks for watching Flea," Jet says, cocky smirk in place. Katara can't help but bite her lip in response. Her boyfriend is almost too cute for his own good.

"No problem," she shrugs one shoulder, trying to appear aloof. But it doesn't work. Two seconds later she's nervously tucking her hair behind her ears and peeping up at Jet through her eyelashes. "So, um, remember when we were studying on Thursday?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember when your aunt called you into the kitchen and you were gone from you room for a second? Um, I might have peeked inside the drawer to your bedside table."

Jet lets out a laugh. "So you _did _see my _Playboy_ copies."

Katara tries to laugh along with him. "Yeah, and, uh, something else, too."

Jet pauses and the laughter fades from his brown eyes. "Oh. _Oh_."

Katara nods, blushing.

Jet rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment. "So, my cousin might have given those to me last Christmas as, like, a gag gift."

"Oh."

"But I can see how bad that might look to you."

"I mean—"

"Let's just—"

They both let out nervous laughs and before Katara can think of another awkward thing to say, Jet wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her to him.

"We're having fun," he says into her hair. "Let's just take our time and see what happens, okay?"

Katara nods in agreement before resting her chin against his shoulder.

They stand like that for a moment until loud knocking from the other side of the front door interrupts them. Katara pulls out of Jet's embrace and glances behind her. Three sets of eyes, two blue and one golden, are glaring at her and Jet from the window.

"I should probably go back inside," she says.

Jet nods and quickly kisses her goodbye.

"And who knows, maybe one day we'll use what's in your bedside table drawer."

Katara takes the dumbfounded look on Jet's face as her cue to run back into her house, giggling.

* * *

><p><strong>AN #2:**

**YAY slightly naughty stuff! Obviously, big events should occur in the next couple of installments.**

**I hope everyone enjoyed. **

**Lots of lurkers for this story! You should leave me your thoughts; I promise I won't bite. ;)**


	9. Cheaters Never Prosper

"Quit doing that. You're distracting me."

Jet, who has been drumming his fingers against the table, freezes and quirks an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "Yes, princess Katara." He then proceeds to peer around her shoulder and peek at her computer screen. "How's the book report coming?"

"Good," Katara answers vaguely, not missing a beat in her typing. She could technically work on this at home, since she and Sokka share a computer, but she'd rather get as much work done in the library as she possibly can.

"I forgot what happens in the Great Gatsby." Jet refocuses on his own computer. He's been goofing around on iMDB for the past half hour. "Didn't the dude kill himself or something?"

"No." Katara shakes her head and eyes her boyfriend. "Not at all."

Jet frowns. "Oh. Well, I do remember something about a green light. But, whatever." He smiles at Katara. "I'm sure you'll get an 'A'. You always do."

Katara smiles back.

Some girl that Katara has never seen before makes her way through their computer aisle. As she passes Katara and Jet, she runs her hand along Jet's arm and squeezes his shoulder. Then she says 'hi', but Katara's cheeks are already burning in anger. The strange girl pretends not to notice her glare.

Jet nods briefly at the girl before turning his gaze back to Katara. He only seems to have eyes for her.

But for some reason that doesn't really make her feel any better.

* * *

><p>"I think Jet is cheating on me."<p>

Katara is currently shopping for a Halloween costume with Suki. She just doesn't have the time to hand-make a costume this year.

Suki stares at her with big eyes. "Are you serious? What's making you think that?"

Katara shrugs, feeling downcast. "It's just a vibe. I know that sounds stupid, but the way he acts around other girls…and the way that other girls act around him… It makes me uncomfortable and he doesn't even seem to care."

Suki frowns, brown eyes briefly scanning the costume accessories aisle. "Well, Jet is a flirtatious guy, Katara. He always has been."

Katara shakes her head and studies a glittery set of fairy wings. "He wasn't back in the summer."

Suki rolls her eyes and puts on a pair of devil horns. "Yeah, when it was always just you two. So you wouldn't have known how he was with other girls back then, would you?"

"I guess not."

"You know, if the way he is around other girls makes you feel uncomfortable then maybe you should tell him about it."

Katara glances at the price tag on the wings and winces. They're way too expensive. She'll have to go with a cheaper pair, if she can find one. "I'm scared of what he'll say."

"Better then you getting more and more paranoid. It's your relationship too, Katara."

"I _know_ that."

"Then act like it. Oh my god, Katara, look at this Wonder Woman costume. Look at it. I know who I'm going to be."

* * *

><p>Yue, Sokka's girlfriend, has a super huge house on the other side of town. Her dad is almost never home, which is why, the Saturday before Halloween, Yue throws an absolutely massive Halloween party.<p>

Katara and Suki show up together. Sokka and Zuko (and Jin) are already here.

Katara readjusts her fairy wings and scans the crowd for her brother. "Do you see anyone we know?" she asks Suki.

The other girl, dressed as Wonder Woman but also wearing devil horns, shakes her head. "Um, no. Just a bunch of older kids who probably go to your school."

Katara sighs and walks across the room to the refreshment table. She takes a dainty sip of the fruit punch before deeming it safe and non alcohol injected. Offering a cup to Suki, she says, "Jet texted me and told me that he'd be a little late."

Suki frowns and looks down into her cup. "I still think it's weird that he didn't ride over with us."

Katara smirks. "I think he's just scared of your driving."

Suki rolls her eyes. "Whatever, I'm a great driver. And he should be grateful that I'm offering him free rides around town."

Before Katara can reply, Sokka and Zuko walk up to them. And they're dressed as Han Solo and Obi Wan. Again.

"Can't you guys come up with anything more original?" Katara states, shaking her head.

Sokka gives his sister a pitying look. "Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Besides, I have a new lightsabor this year—"

That's when Sokka notices the fact that Suki is wearing a skin tight Wonder Woman costume. His blue eyes nearly bug out of his head.

Katara promptly coughs in order to hide her laughter. She can see the way Suki is blushing and straightening her back a little. Katara almost wants to give her friend an encouraging pat on the shoulder. She likes Yue, she does, but Suki has had a crush on Sokka forever, and Katara cares about Suki's feelings more than Yue's.

But instead, Katara takes a couple of steps back and takes a few sips from her cup. Zuko follows.

"Nice wings," he says, smiling.

"Nice haircut."

Zuko's golden eyes flick up toward his hairline self-consciously. His hair used to be shaggy, but he must've gotten a couple of inches cut off recently, since now his bangs are barely brushing his forehead.

"It was Jin's idea," he explains sheepishly.

"It's nice," Katara compliments.

"You think so? I hate it. I kind of miss the length."

Katara reaches up her hand and tugs on a couple of his locks affectionately. "Seriously, it's nice. You look more…polished."

"Polished," Zuko repeats, taking an unconscious step closer to her.

Katara feels her heart rate speed up. He's so close that she can smell him. He smells good, like Axe or Old Spice or something along those lines. She feels dizzy for a moment.

And then someone is tugging on her elbow.

Katara turns around and what she sees nearly makes her eyes pop out of her skull.

Jet looks like he's just stepped out of the 20's. His brown hair is slicked back stylishly, but Katara has no idea how he managed to get his hands on this kind of old fashioned suit.

"Jet—"

"I'm supposed to be Jay Gatsby," he interrupts, looking a little nervous. "You've been obsessing over that book all semester, so I thought that I'd surprise you." He gestures toward her wings and glittery make up. "You look cute, Tinkerbell."

Katara can't stop the grin that spreads across her face. "You look amazing!" At a loss for words, she pulls her boyfriend into a hug and rests her chin on her shoulder. After a moment she pulls away, but keeps an arm wrapped around his waist.

"Zuko," Jet greets from her side.

Zuko nods back, winks at Katara, and disappears into the crowd.

* * *

><p>The pain pulsates through her chest and leaves her feeling numb. It's not fair, she thinks, to have to see this.<p>

And it's not his fault. That's what makes it worse.

She'd lost Jet about an hour ago and had gone to look for him. That's when she'd seen him hanging out with another girl in a secluded corner of the party. In his defense, he hadn't looked that enraptured in the conversation. The girl, however, was all over him.

What is it about her boyfriend? Why couldn't other girls just leave him be?

She'd been about to step up to the two of them and interrupt when the other girl had kissed Jet. She saw his old body stiffen, saw his brown eyes widen in shock, but she didn't see him pull away.

And Katara, being the impulsive creature that she is, turns and walks away before she sees her boyfriend shove the other girl away from him with more force than necessary.

* * *

><p>She's grabbing onto Suki's cape and viciously yanking. "I need to get out of here." She's in hysterics. Her breaths are shallow and she's feeling fuzzy headed.<p>

Suki is gripping her shoulders and steadying her. "Katara? Katara, are you okay?"

Katara rapidly shakes her head. "I saw…"

Suki looks deeply concerned. "Saw what? Where's Jet?"

Sokka appears over Suki's shoulder, and Katara briefly wonders if she had interrupted a conversation between the two of them.

"Suki, I was right. About Jet. I was right."

Suki's face darkens and she looks angrier then Katara has seen her in a very long time. "It's going to be okay, Katara. We're going to deal with him."

Katara nods, swaying a bit on her feet.

And then someone is by her shoulder. "What the hell is going on?" A hot hand is on the small of her back, making sure she doesn't tip over. She knows it's Zuko. She knows.

And then she's being steered out of the house and into a car.

It hurts. She's surprised by how much it does.

* * *

><p>She ignores his texts. Won't look at him during school. It takes her two weeks to summon up the courage to talk to him.<p>

She walks up to him after her English class. She's carrying her books in her hands, and they work as a sort of shield.

Jet looks irritated as soon as he sees her. "Finally talking to me?" he says, brown eyes a hurricane. But just like that the storm quiets. "Katara, I don't even know what I did to make you so angry with me."

She notices for the first time how tired he looks. That there are bags underneath his eyes and that he's lost a little bit of weight.

She can't help but feel a little guilty.

"You kissed another girl behind my back," she says, and nearly winces at the words. They sound awful, no matter how she says them.

Jet watches her for a long moment. Then he sighs. "If you really think I'd do that to you, then maybe we shouldn't be together."

Then he walks away.

* * *

><p>"More cryptic and non-informative bullshit, huh."<p>

"Suki, you're not being helpful."

"Look Katara, as someone who has never been in a relationship, I don't know why you're still coming to me for advice. I clearly know nothing."

"Because you're my best friend."

"I don't know. I guess you should talk to him. Hear him out? You never did get his side of the story. You just sort of freaked out."

"Hey, you freaked out with me."

"Um, yeah. I'm your best friend. I'm supposed to freak out along with you. Duh."

* * *

><p>Jet's aunt glares at her back as Katara walks up the stairs and towards Jet's bedroom.<p>

She supposes that maybe she deserves it. A little bit.

She knocks quietly, but doesn't wait for a 'come in'.

He doesn't look all that surprised to see her. "Hey," he calls out from his makeshift desk. He puts down a pen and turns his chair so that he's facing her. Then he waits.

And Katara waits too, because she's still at a loss for things to say.

"What you said earlier…" she trails off and then sucks in a deep breath. "About us not being together—"

"You don't trust me." He's stating the obvious, but Katara didn't realize it was the obvious until right now. "If you did then you would have talked to me instead of ignoring me for two entire weeks. Two entire weeks that _sucked_, by the way."

Katara frowns. "It sucked to see you kiss another girl."

"It sucked to be kissed by a girl who tasted like stale booze. Also, she was stupid. I mentioned the Triforce and she asked me if I learned about that in my chemistry class." He raises an expectant eyebrow at Katara, and she can't help but giggle.

Jet's face relaxes into an easy smile. "See, my girlfriend actually knows when I'm talking about Zelda." His smile melts into hesitation. "If she's still my girlfriend, that is."

Katara sits down on the edge of Jet's bed. "I just… When I see other girl's talking to you it…upsets me, I guess."

And then Jet laughs. He laughs. "And whenever I see another guy looking at you, which happens _all the time_, I want to punch him in the face." He sighs, shaking his head. "I care about you a lot, Katara. A lot," he repeats earnestly.

Katara feels her cheeks start to burn. Jet's gaze is intense. She suddenly she feels very small. Or very big. She's not sure.

Jet leans behind his chair and pulls out an old guitar that has done nothing but sit in the corner of his bedroom since Katara has known him. "Well, I hope you are still my girlfriend, because I totally wrote a song about you."

Katara melts like butter on hot toast. "Oh?"

"Yeah. It goes like this. _I have this really awesome girlfriend/her name is Kataraaaaaaa/and she's got super awesome eyes/and a nice rack/even though right now she's not calling me back/but that's okay because/she's still awesome/and her name is Kataraaaaaa._"

"Grammy winning."

"I know."

The guitar sits in his lap and Jet stares at her, waiting.

"I'm sorry," Katara finally says, voice soft. "Do you think, do you think we could start over, or something? I'm bad at being a girlfriend."

"Nah." Jet shrugs. "You're perfect."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

**A few things:**

**First things first, this chapter was supposed to be a drabble chapter that was going to set up the next chapter. Because, uh, Katara loses a couple of important things in the next chapter. *ahem***

**But I got more than one person mentioning the fact that they thought Jet was a cheater, or that he was cheating on Katara. So I decided to use this chapter to squash those thoughts, because as flawed as Jet is, a cheater he is not. His character does not strike me as someone who would do that. Jet will never ever ever cheat in this story.**

**I cannot say the same about Katara or Zuko. *blink***

**Second, I'm afraid I have to stick this story on a temporary hiatus.**

**Fear not, for it is not forever! I suspect that this story will be back sometime in January, perhaps a little earlier, perhaps a little later. The problem is that my two other multi-chaptered stories are a lot closer to being finished then this one is, and I'd really like to finish them before the end of the year. Plus, the closer I get to finishing the other stories, the more distracting they became, which means that updating **_**Wake Up**_** becomes more of a chore, and not a joy. I don't think that's fair to you guys, nor the story, do you?**

**I hope everyone understands, and I do apologize. But this way I think we'll end up with a better story in the long run, and that's what's most important.**

**You guys are awesome, stay classy, Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and drop a review and let me know your thoughts if you feel so inclined. :D**


	10. Cherries

**A/N:**

**Yes. I deserve the Cone of Shame.**

* * *

><p>Katara's sixteenth birthday brings cupcakes and, interestingly enough, her first orgasm given to her by someone else.<p>

It happens in her bedroom. Suki and Ty Lee are doing a great job keeping her brother, Zuko, and their girlfriends distracted downstairs with a rousing game of Apples to Apples.

Meanwhile, Jet's hand is down her jeans.

Katara's is biting down on her bottom lip so hard that she thinks she might eventually draw blood. Everything feels wet and hot and tingly, and Jet's lips are pressed against her neck. She can feel his smugness rolling off of him in waves. That's not really a big deal, though. She'll find a way to pay him back later.

His fingers are rapidly massaging between her legs and soon she can't take the pressure, can't take anymore build up so she comes, clamping her mouth down onto his shoulder in the process. The shrill noise she makes is stifled effectively. She hears Jet moan low in his throat and the sound of it makes her shudder, makes her aroused and ready all over again.

He's gotten good at making her feel that way.

Jet pulls his hand away and zips back up her jeans. "Happy birthday," he says, voice husky, before kissing her temple.

Her breath is coming out in short rasps, but she manages words. "Thanks." Then she giggles. "I'm pretty sure that's my favorite present."

He pretends to look skeptical. "Really? Even better then the Hello Kitty tea set that Ty Lee got you?"

Katara frowns and taps her chin. "Well, that _was_ pretty—"

He hushes her up by kissing her and she finds herself smiling.

* * *

><p>"I think I'm ready to have sex with Jet."<p>

Katara didn't mean for it to sound like such a throw-away-phrase, but the way Suki and Ty Lee are currently gaping at her makes her think that she should have approached this with more tact. Springing it on them over Pop Tarts might have been a mistake.

Ty Lee recovers first. She squeals and wraps her arms around Katara's shoulders before launching into a long stream of sentences that center around true love and souls and pink auras.

Suki is just shaking her head, the hint of a smirk on her mouth. "When did you decide this?"

Katara shrugs, trying to come across as casual as possible. "Last month, during my birthday party thing."

Both of her friends smile at each other and nod knowingly.

"Every time I look at him I just want to jump him," Katara confesses. "And I keep day dreaming about him naked and like, groaning." She feels herself flushing in embarrassment. "Is that gross?"

Ty Lee rapidly shakes her head. "No! That's perfectly healthy! Just make sure that the two of you are being safe."

Suki snorts. "He can finally utilize that box of condoms in his drawer."

Katara laughs, thinking on that particular memory with fondness.

"I'm sorry, but why are my sister and her friends discussing condoms?" Sokka is standing in the doorway of the kitchen, eyeing all of them warily.

"It's probably because we're all talking about sex," Suki states bluntly before tossing her half eaten Pop Tart at Sokka. It bounces off his chin and all the girls laugh.

Looking a little irritated, Sokka brushes away the crumbs and narrows his blue eyes onto Suki. By the way Suki's eyebrows rise up, Katara knows that her friend has accepted her brother's little challenge.

"And why are you guys talking about sex?" Sokka asks.

Suki shrugs. "Maybe because we're having sex."

Sokka scoffs. "You're not having sex."

"Oh yeah?" Suki's eyes are bright and lovely and Katara knows that her best friend loves riling her brother up like this. "How would you know?"

"Because—_because_—"

"I could be." Suki shrugs nonchalantly. "You'd never know."

The equally horrified and furious look on Sokka's face tells his sister all that she needs to know.

Katara smiles into her coffee, forcing herself not to roll her eyes. Her brother is such an idiot.

* * *

><p>"I think we should um, have sex? Like, I'm pretty sure I'm ready."<p>

Katara tells Jet by his locker, partly because the hallway is noisy and she's pretty sure no one will overhear, but mostly because it's the first time she's seen him since she's come to this decision and she can't wait to tell him.

Jet accidentally slams his hand into his locker. Katara laughs the entire way to the nurse's office.

* * *

><p>She is sixteen and she thinks that she might be in love. And it's not just because Jet looks so good naked (which he does). It's because he bought new condoms and lube and scented candles and Oreos <em>and<em> he asked her about birth control. It's because he's gone out to make this will be a great experience for her.

It makes her choke up, makes her heart swell, makes her feel like she's floating or nauseous or _something._

When Katara finally slips her bra off her shoulders she blushes at the wide eyed, worshipful look that Jet gives her. It makes her heart beat a little faster, makes her want to cross her arms in order to cover everything, and it also makes her want to keep her hands down at her sides so that he can ogle all he wants.

When he kisses her, thumb rolling over an erect nipple, she starts to understand why people hold sex and touching and togetherness on such a high pedestal.

She is warm, and the quilt that's on his bed is soft underneath her back. His aunt and uncle are out for the evening. They're unaware that she's even at the house, and Hakoda and Sokka think that she went to the movies with Suki.

Breathing heavily, Jet rolls off of her briefly. She hears the rustling of him tearing open the condom, and soon he his back, weight heavy but comforting.

When he pushes inside of her, she burns.

The pain is sharp as her body stretches to accommodate him, and the uncomfortableness of it all eases after she reminds herself to relax. When Jet thrusts, tilting his hips slant against hers, some primal part of her reacts and soon she is moving under him, eyebrows pushed together and lips parted.

It feels good, and there is a deep, slow unraveling within her, an unraveling that seems much bigger and better than anything that she's experienced before. She knows instinctively that she won't get there tonight. That's okay.

Jet's gasps and shaking limbs are wonderful enough for the time being. It is not a prolonged experience; he moves faster and faster, making her whimper at the thickness of the pleasure. He succumbs soon, stiffening over her, a moan reverberating from his chest. When he finishes he twists a hand into her hair and kisses her deeply.

She sighs happily. She will be sore and yet… And yet she can't wait to do it again.

A little bit later he finds the blood on his sheets. He changes them, not letting her take them to the washing machine, and then proceeds to feed her Oreos.

When he leans in and presses an _I love you_ into her ear, she responds in kind.

* * *

><p>Jet offers to walk her home, but she can see how tired he is. Katara declines, knowing that the cool, fresh air will help clear her head. The goodbye kiss she gives them lingers headily between them, and when she last sees his face he is grinning, happier then she's ever seen him.<p>

It isn't too late, which is why she's not surprised to find Zuko outside her front door. But she_ is_ surprised by the expression on her face.

She stops short and pulls her sweater tighter against herself. The feeling of ease and contentment leaves her body abruptly. She sucks in a shaky breath, suddenly worried. "Zuko? Are you okay? Where's Sokka?"

The older, black haired boy shrugs. "Out with your dad, I guess." And then he is directly in front of her, and she wondered when he learned to move that fast. She notices that his eyes are rimmed red. He does not ask her where she's been.

He pulls her against him, and he is shaking and Katara feels a stab of fear.

"My mom," he breathes out, moving his face into her hair, seeking comfort. "I saw my mom."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

**Short, but I'm trying to ease myself back into this universe. Thanks you so much for being patient with flaky old me.**

**Hope you all liked, though. Leave me your thoughts if you so desire. :)**


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